Is this the start of a revival for Johnny Depp? The American actor star of the saga Pirates of the Caribbean had seen his image considerably tarnished by the comments of his ex-wife Amber Heard, who accused him of domestic violence in a column published by the American newspaper washington post in 2018.
But the verdict of the Fairfax court on Wednesday June 1 changed things. Johnny Depp’s ex-wife has been found guilty of defamation after a high-profile trial. The star actor was also found guilty of defamation of his ex-wife. But he was ordered to pay “only” two million dollars in damages by the court, which had a much heavier hand for Amber Heard (10 million dollars in damages to be paid to Johnny Depp).
More than the financial aspect, the victory is above all moral for Johnny Depp. He did not hit his wife. But can this verdict revive him in Hollywood, where he was no longer so popular because of rumors around his sometimes “unprofessional” behavior? We weighed the pros and cons.
1Too bad a reputation on set
During the trial, actress Amber Heard’s lawyers produced witnesses assuring that her ex-husband’s star had already turned pale long before the accusations of domestic violence due to “unprofessional behavior”, linked in particular to his consumption of alcohol and narcotics.
“I don’t think he’s going to have very, very big studio deals, with everything at stake”declares a Hollywood producer who worked with Johnny Depp in the past. “If he’s throwing bottles and taking drugs, he’s not on time, they’re not going to accept delays that cost such a lot of money from someone whose star is no longer in the firmament”analyzes this producer.
According to him, the major studios could in particular experience difficulties in ensuring expensive productions in which Johnny Depp would appear. “Now it’s too risky to take a guy like this in billion-dollar franchises”he notes.
2A degraded image at the time of the #MeToo movement
Even though he was cleared of domestic violence charges by the Fairfax court, Johnny Depp saw his image tarnished by the trial that pitted him against Amber Heard. While Virginia jurors and social media fans sided with the actor during the trial, there’s no guarantee he’ll ever be able to win over viewers, especially female audiences, again.
“Some of the things he said are despicable”believes the Hollywood producer interviewed on condition of anonymity, referring to certain SMS quoted during the trial in which Johnny Depp described his ex-wife as “silly cow” or evoked his “rotting corpse”.
3He turns to independent cinema
For Johnny Depp, the road to a return to Hollywood seems rather barred at the moment, but smaller studios should open their arms to him. So thinks Karen North, a professor at the University of Southern California who specializes in reputation management. “I think some studios will be open to working with him from now on”she judges.
“He could become a darling of independent cinema, where filming lasts six to eight weeks and the fees are 250,000 dollars, with 25% of the rights of the movie. “He might even get nominated for a great little role…and wow people with a crazy performance,” says the Hollywood producer who worked with him.
The 58-year-old actor should indeed appear in a French film by the director
Maiwenn, Jeanne du Barry. In this feature film still in the pre-production phase, Johnny Depp will play King Louis XV.