Johnny Depp at the UK premiere of Jeanne Du Barry on April 15, 2024 in London. Photo / WireImage
Johnny Depp is returning to cinema in his first acting role since he won a highly publicised court battle seeking defamation charges against his ex-wife, Aquaman actress Amber Heard, in June 2022.
Depp, 60, plays a role in the French period romance film Jeanne Du Barry alongside French actor and director Maïwenn. The film had its premiere last week.
Jeanne Du Barry is only released in cinemas for a limited time. After its theatrical release ends today, it will be released to stream on Apple TV+.
Depp emerged victorious in a defamation trial between him and Heard, 38, in 2022. Still, the actor has been left neglected by the Hollywood industry as a result of the intense public interest in the explosive trial and Heard’s claims that Depp was physically and emotionally abusive while the pair were together.
Doug Elridge - a US-based brand expert - discussed what he thinks about Depp’s new movie and what it means for his future movie career with Fox News Digital.
“From a strategic standpoint, I think it’s a brilliant move. It’s uncertain how bright his box office star shines right now, after being dragged through the defamation mud in front of the entire country,” Elridge said.
Jeanne Du Barry is a film based on the true story of Jeanne du Barry (played by Maïwenn), the illegitimate daughter of a French seamstress. Despite her humble beginnings, Du Barry managed to climb the social ladder of high French society as a courtesan in the 1800s.
During this time, du Barry caught the attention of King Louis XV (played by Depp), who decided to make her his “maîtresse-en-titre” or chief royal mistress.
The film is shot in the French language and has English subtitles included. Depp already learned how to speak French through his relationship with French actress Vanessa Paradis. The couple were together for 14 years and share two children.
The film largely focuses on Maïwenn’s character of Jeanne du Barry. Depp has a prominent role in the film as King Louis XV, yet he is a supporting character.
Elridge notes that Depp’s part in Jeanne Du Barry is likely not the film to redeem Depp as an A-list actor.
“Instead of attaching him to a leading role in a big budget movie - which brings high expectations with it - Depp is re-entering the pool from the shallow end, with a supporting role in a period piece,” Elridge said.
“The expected box office is small and Depp’s role is already being touted as the standout performance of the film.
“More than that, Depp is choosing to do it his way,” he said.
Depp’s high-ranking position in the Hollywood industry began to slip in 2016 when his then-wife Heard filed for divorce after less than two years of marriage and started publicly accusing him of emotional and physical abuse.
Depp denied any wrongdoing and the couple finalised their divorce in 2017.
But in 2018, Heard continued to allege that Depp abused her, writing an op-ed where she claimed to be a “public figure representing domestic abuse”.
Also in that year, Depp tried to sue a UK newspaper that libelled him but lost the case. Depp was then asked to resign from the Fantastic Beasts franchise by Warner Bros., where he played the character Gellert Grindelwald.
Depp’s career significantly slowed down after he lost the UK case. Before filming Jeanne Du Barry, Depp’s last role was in the 2020 independent movie Minamata, which had been finished before Depp’s UK trial was decided.
Depp was originally cast in Jeanne Du Barry in 2019 by Maïwenn, who revealed in a recent interview with The Independent that Stephen Deuters - Depp’s UK representative - emailed her soon after Depp lost his case to see if she still wanted the actor to be part of her film.
Maïwenn still wanted Depp to be part of the film, telling Deuters that she was not worried about Depp’s “private life”, and asked if he was still interested.
“Stephen answered in 30 seconds,” Maïwenn said.
Once Depp and Heard sued each other for defamation in the US, a court trial began in Virginia in April 2022.
As part of the televised six-week trial, Depp and Heard fascinated the world with their personal troubles and marriage breakdown as they levelled bombshell accusations of emotional, physical and sexual abuse at one another.
Depp also revealed during the trial that, after Heard’s op-ed was published in 2018, Disney sought to break ties with the actor and fired him from the sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
The jury came to their decision on June 1, 2022, and ruled that Heard was liable for all three counts of defamation in a win for Depp, who was found to be liable for only one count of defamation.
The court ordered Heard to pay Depp US$15 million ($24.9m) in damages while Depp was ordered to pay Heard US$3m ($5m).
Although the court case largely absolved Depp of the accusations, Elridge pointed out that Depp’s reputation in the eyes of the public and the Hollywood industry still needed to be repaired.
“By winning his defamation case against his ex, Depp planted a flag, not only for himself, but for men who have been wrongly accused across the country,” Elridge said.
“In so doing, he galvanised an army of new fans - both men and women - who were inspired by his bravery and willingness to confront and combat the false allegations made against him.
“Unfortunately, for Depp and others who are wrongly accused, the ‘court of public opinion’ renders a verdict by allegation, not evidence, and the blowback has a calculable impact in terms of dollars and cents.
“Depp’s vindication came in the courtroom, he doesn’t need validation.
“That said, the only thing worse than being accused of something you didn’t do, is being forced to pay for the sins that others have actually committed against you. It’s a paradoxical state of affairs, but one that Depp has had to navigate nonetheless.”
The brand expert highlighted Depp being fired from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise even though he played the main role of Captain Jack Sparrow.
“The films grossed a staggering US$1.06 billion for studio Disney, to which Depp was the driving force,” Elridge said.
“To wit, he earned an estimated US$300m from the franchise. Not only was he deprived of subsequent instalments in Pirates, he became an unwitting, innocent pariah among Hollywood decision-makers.”
While promoting Jeanne Du Barry at a press conference, Depp described his feelings towards how Hollywood treated him during his prolonged legal showdown with Heard.
“Did I feel boycotted by Hollywood? Well, you’d have to not have a pulse to feel at that point like this was all just a weird joke,” Depp said, as reported by Variety.
“Of course, when you’re asked to resign from a film you’re doing because of something that’s merely a bunch of vowels and consonants floating in the air, yes, you feel boycotted,” he noted about him being shelved from Fantastic Beasts.
“Do I feel boycotted now? No, not at all. But I don’t feel boycotted because I don’t think about Hollywood. I don’t feel much further need for Hollywood.”
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