Home Top

American mother gunned down in Mali massacre: Aid worker is named as first victim after terrorists slaughtered 27 at hotel favored by Westerners leaving bodies piled up in gore-spattered corridors
EXCLUSIVE - The extreme lengths five young Syrian men went to in bid to enter the US amid ISIS fears: Greek passports forged in Brazil, hopping from country to country and not checking luggage to avoid scrutiny
How $700-a-month ISIS video producers dictate the terrorist group's every action and receive better treatment (any better salaries) than any of their peers
Chris Christie in mystery security scare: His plane returns to the gate, passengers are searched and one man is taken off the flight after 'threatening' the New Jersey governor
Fingerprints now reveal that TWO of the Paris suicide bombers had entered Europe through Greece a month before the attacks
Pro-refugee protests are staged across US amid outrage at Trump for agreeing with 'Nazi-like' plan to make Muslims register
Obama says Mali attack 'stiffens our resolve' as he condemns atrocity and meets refugees on the latest leg of his Asian tour
'We didn't know how close we were to being killed': Revealed, the friends who survived Paris massacre because jihadi's AK-47 ran out of bullets in Mail's incredible video
UN Security Council approves 'all necessary measures' to fight the 'global and unprecedented threat' of ISIS in wake of Paris attacks
'Cowgirl' cousin did NOT blow herself up... but died when third ISIS terrorist detonated suicide vest standing next to her in Paris siege apartment, police reveal
Shadow of a bloody past: For centuries, Islam and Christianity were locked in a brutal conflict most have forgotten. The horror, a top historian argues, is that for jihadis it's as real today as it was in the Middle Ages
Jihadi suspect arrested in Sweden after crossing Arctic Circle on a BICYCLE to sneak into Europe via the backdoor
Thousands of Canadians line the streets to pay tribute to ex-soldier who joined Kurdish militia and died fighting ISIS
'Christmas is a charade': Pope says atrocities such as Paris massacre have made festivities meaningless in a world which has chosen 'war and hate'
'We shouldn't be scared - we are still going out': Defiant Parisians pack the streets of the French capital to honour of those killed exactly one week ago
'This is for Paris': Russian pilots write messages of support for terror victims on their bombs before launching latest air raids and cruise missile strikes against ISIS
Air France plane traveling from Paris to San Francisco performs mystery u-turn over the English Channel and lands back at Charles de Gaulle airport
Flagship Manhattan Apple Store brought to a standstill as man in a mask terrorizes customers with a Samurai sword
CCTV shows massacre mastermind jump barriers and use Metro without a ticket as terror reigned across Paris
Brother of Paris mastermind was arrested in Morocco last month after arriving in his father's hometown and has been held in custody ever since
Newlywed couple let seven frightened strangers fleeing from the Paris terror attacks join them in their honeymoon suite for the night
The puppy who will grow up to be France's next Diesel: Little Dobrynia is donated by Russia as a sign of solidarity to replace hero canine killed by suicide jihadi
Mark Zuckerberg will take two months of paternity leave - six weeks MORE time off than Marissa Mayer took after birth and two months less than he offers his employees
Horrific details emerge in trial of student who 'raped and murdered his teacher' as the jury is shown the stick he 'used to assault her'

It's so disturbing to see my little girl like this, says Johnny Depp: Actor says his daughter is growing up fast - and explains why he'll never stop worrying about her

By Gabrielle Donnelly For The Daily Mail

Published: 20:50 EST, 19 November 2015 | Updated: 03:41 EST, 20 November 2015

View
comments

Lily-Rose Depp has appeared in two films, Tusk and Yoga Hosers, both comedy horror spoofs, the latter featuring her father as a man-hunting monster

When Lily-Rose Depp - the 16-year-old actress and model daughter of Hollywood star Johnny Depp - publicly declared herself in August to be ‘sexually fluid’, meaning she does not regard herself as 100 per cent heterosexual, it caused a sensation.

‘She’s got thousands of followers on social media, and they were all taken completely by surprise,’ says her father. ‘But not me. I already knew because she tells me everything - she’s not afraid to say anything to me. We’re super-tight and I’m very proud of our relationship.

‘Lily’s really together - she’s a sharp kid and one of the smartest human beings I have ever met.

‘She’s far surpassed myself there - and my friends, too!

‘And, whatever she is doing, if she needs any advice, I’m there for her. Kids are going to make their own decisions, but I guess that the only thing you can do as a parent is to offer support. And I do.’

A blonde beauty with features that perfectly meld those of her father and her mother, French singing star Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose has already appeared in two films, Tusk and Yoga Hosers, both comedy horror spoofs, the latter featuring her father as a man-hunting monster. She is also to be seen modelling for both Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld.

Johnny confesses, though, that he’s worried about her. ‘What’s happening to Lily-Rose is something that I didn’t expect to happen this early, that’s for sure!

‘It’s such a funny thing when you see your daughter transitioning from your baby, your little girl, to suddenly being a young woman.

‘If you’re not really looking for it, you can miss it, and Lily-Rose is on that road already and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. She’s been snatched up by Karl Lagerfeld - which is a coincidence, as he spotted her mother when she was the same age, too - and when I see her with make-up and all that stuff, it’s really disturbing, because she’s a very beautiful girl, and it’s all happening so fast.

‘Her becoming an actress was never my dream or my desire for her, but that’s what she enjoys doing, and it’s her passion and it’s where she ended up. And she’s got the goods - she can certainly deliver.

‘No matter how grown up she gets, I’ll never stop worrying about her. It’s a father-daughter thing.

‘She’s got a sensible head on her shoulders, and I trust her to lead a sensible, responsible life, but I can’t ever see the day coming when I just switch off to let her make her own way in the world.’

Indeed. For the past few weeks Lily-Rose has been modelling in Paris, and was in the French capital during last Friday’s terrorist attacks. It turned out that the teenager was in the thick of it all, although her father didn’t know that at the time.

She had been at a house party in the centre of Paris, but had left early, just a few minutes before the attacks began. She got back to her rented apartment safely, and then began receiving frantic texts from the friends she had left behind.

Later she tweeted about her friends: ‘They had locked themselves inside the house for safety, because all they knew was that there were guns and explosions all over the place, and anyone could have been in danger.

Lily-Rose has been modelling in Paris, and was in the French capital during last Friday’s terrorist attacks. It turned out that the teenager was in the thick of it all, although her father didn’t know that at the time

‘They texted me to make sure I had got home all right. I looked out of the window and there were people panicking everywhere, because nobody knew for sure what was happening.’

Like a good daughter, she immediately called her father to assure him that although the situation in Paris was looking more and more terrible, she at least was safe.

Depp, 52, is possibly a little extra-protective of Lily-Rose because when she was seven, he and Vanessa nearly lost her to an E.coli infection, which she contracted while her father was filming Sweeney Todd in London. Her life was saved by what Depp has described as the ‘terrific’ medical team at Great Ormond Street Hospital. But as he remembers today, there was a period when they were not sure whether the little girl would make it at all.

‘They told us her kidneys had shut down and that she would be lucky to survive. For nine days we sat by her bed, and refused to move until she began to pull through.

‘Filming had to stop. Everything had to stop. It was three weeks before she was allowed to go home. I still think of that time when I’m playing an emotional scene in a movie - it’s something that, when you’ve been through it, you can’t help but tap into.’

Depp, 52, is possibly a little extra-protective of Lily-Rose because when she was seven, he nearly lost her to an E.coli infection, which she contracted while her father was filming Sweeney Todd in London

Depp’s 2012 split from Vanessa, 42, is firmly in the past and, after what were reportedly a couple of bumpy years, the two are now very good friends.

‘She’s a great mother and a great woman,’ he says. ‘And when you’ve got a woman who’s been good to you, who you have a couple of kids with, you don’t just abandon ship. The love may change, but you keep loving her, no matter what.’

Meanwhile, last February, he quietly married 29-year-old Amber Heard, the beautiful blonde actress he met on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011. In his early 20s, Johnny was married briefly to make-up artist Lori Anne Allison. He was subsequently engaged to Hollywood actresses Sherilyn Fenn, Jennifer Grey and Winona Ryder, and had a high-profile, four-year romance with British supermodel Kate Moss before settling down for 13 years with Paradis, with whom he has Lily-Rose and her brother, Jack, 13.

However, he had avoided another trip to the altar before tying the knot with Heard nine months ago. He says he and his wife couldn’t be happier if they tried.

‘Every year that you get a little bit older, you also get a little bit wiser,’ he says.

‘You get a better look at what is going on in your life, and there comes a certain point when you are able to dedicate your life to just one person.

‘And, you know, in a lot of ways I am everything Amber wouldn’t want to be with, and in a lot of ways, she’s everything I wouldn’t want to be with, because actors and actresses don’t find it easy to get on together.

‘But she has a very good perspective on her career - she’s a very smart woman who has a lot to say about a lot of things. Plus, she’s into old blues musicians - she has the ability to bring up the names of really obscure old guys like Slim Harpo or Tampa Red - and when I realised that, well, there was no way around it. She’s a wonderful girl and I’m very lucky.’

The couple’s base is Johnny’s sprawling home in West Hollywood, and earlier this summer they put up for sale the French house Johnny had shared with Vanessa, a stunning five-bedroom spread set on 37 acres near St Tropez, worth $25 million. Now they have had a change of heart.

‘Amber and I were there recently, and we’ve pulled it off the market. I watched Lily-Rose and Jack grow up there, and I realised I don’t want to let go of it because after I’ve gone up in smoke, I’d love for them to have their kids there, too.’

He says with pride that his children get along well with Amber.

‘They are all close, like pals, and it’s been great. It’s amazing when you see things that you are proud of in your children. They’re good kids - smart, polite and caring, and they’ve turned out incredibly well, especially having lived alongside me, because most parents’ jobs don’t require the sort of weirdness that mine does!

‘Jack draws really well and he also plays music very well. But aside from being in school plays, he hasn’t shown any desire to be an actor, I’m relieved to say.’

Johnny has been acting for almost 30 years. It was 1987 when 21 Jump Street propelled the then 24-year-old into the role of teen idol - something he has since said he found most uncomfortable.

Since then he has played everything from a young man with blades for fingers in Edward Scissorhands in 1990, a cross-dressing producer of bad B-movies in Ed Wood in 1994 and J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland in 2004, to Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates Of The Caribbean blockbusters, which first swaggered on to our cinema screens in 2003.

The series is still going strong 12 years later, and, along the way, has turned its star into one of the most visible - and one of the richest - actors in Hollywood.

When we meet, Depp is on a break from the final days of shooting a new Pirates movie. Slightly built, soft-spoken and delicately featured, he is dressed in a butter-soft suede jacket over blue jeans, heavy silver rings on his fingers and his teeth glinting with Jack Sparrow’s trademark gold.

Johnny Depp is pictured with Lily Rose and his now wife Amber Heard in 2013. He quietly married the 29-year-old, an actress he met on the set of The Rum Diary in 2011, in February

‘I’ve never had that Hollywood super-white teeth stuff anyway,’ he shrugs cheerfully.

The new Pirates adventure, Dead Men Tell No Tales, won’t be out until July 2017, but in the meantime Depp’s latest movie, Black Mass, is released here next week.

It is the true story of Boston crime boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, who is now 86 and serving life imprisonment for 11 murders, among other crimes.

Depp’s ice-cold portrayal of Bulger is already earning early predictions in the U.S. of an Oscar nomination next January.

The violence that is shown in Black Mass is not sugar-coated, and Johnny admits that even he found it difficult to take at times.

‘I am not one of those actors who believes that you must inhabit the character you are playing to the extent that you can’t let go, even off-set.

‘I find that unnecessary. Even so, I didn’t sleep well during the shoot.

‘I never sleep well anyway, I don’t know why — maybe from some childhood angst or whatever — but I am the king of insomnia, and I really didn’t sleep well for this one.

‘The weird thing is that Jimmy Bulger himself never had any trouble sleeping at all. There are photographs of him taken after specific . . . acts . . . had been taken care of, and just 15 minutes later, he’s in his recliner chair with his cats, fast asleep. So he was fine about that stuff. I, on the other hand, was a wreck!’

Ask Depp what makes him happy these days, and he does not hesitate. ‘Simplicity,’ he says firmly. ‘Which is a rare commodity and has been for a number of years.

‘Waking up in the morning and seeing the sun coming through the blinds, grabbing the newspaper to scan through, then sitting back to start reading a great book. All that and hanging out with my wife, Amber.

‘Just having those simple moments, where I don’t have to play the Hollywood game, are the moments that end up saving me and keeping me sane.’