Johnny Depp’s latest starring role is here with Jeanne Du Barry, which hit theaters in the UK and Ireland last weekend and is set to come to U.S. cinemas next weekend. While the French movie’s director and star Maïwenn was promoting the movie, she said in an interview that Depp was “difficult to shoot with” because “the crew was afraid of him.” Following the comments going viral, Maïwenn is clarifying her what she said.
As Maïwenn cleared up with Variety, her thoughts on Johnny Depp on the set of Jeanne Du Barry were taken out of context. In the actor/director’s words:
When I made a remark about Johnny being ‘scary,’ I was talking about his charisma, his notoriety, his star status, etc. [I] was shocked when I discovered that the newspaper had headlined that ‘The crew were afraid of [Johnny Depp]’ because written like that, and without its context and subtleties, it absolutely no longer means the same thing. The journalist did not want to grasp the subtlety of my words.
The original article was published by The Independent with a segment of her words: “the crew were afraid of him” in the headline. It highlighted the “on-set difficulties” of making the French period piece featured on the 2024 movie schedule in a way that she did not agree with. As she continued:
I would like to make things very clear: Johnny is ‘scary’ in the sense that his charisma and his status as ‘king’ is impressive. I should have used the word ‘impressive’ if I had known [the writer] Charlotte O’Sullivan would use my words in such a malicious way.
As Maïwenn clarified, when she used the word “scary,” she was referring to the actor’s status in Hollywood rather than it implicating that people feared working with him or felt threatened in any way. Last week Johnny Depp took to social media to share he’s “endlessly grateful” to the director for choosing him to be her King of France in the film. In the movie, Johnny Depp plays King Louis XV and Maïwenn portrays the titular woman, who climbs the social ladder from being in the working class to being a favorite of the monarch. You can check out the Jeanne Du Barry trailer below:
The movie’s release will mark Johnny Depp’s first starring role since his highly-public trial with Amber Heard, which greatly ended in his favor. The defamation trial between the exes lasted from April to June 2022, with $15 million in damages going to Depp and $2 million going to Heard.
Jeanne Du Barry debuted at the Cannes Film Festival this time last year to mixed reviews from critics. Variety called Depp “strangely uncomfortable in the role,’ while Deadline reported his role was “suspiciously light on dialogue.”
Along with the Pirates of the Caribbean actor returning to the fold with this period drama, there are more upcoming Johnny Depp movies on the way! After Jeanne Du Barry, he made Modi, a biographical feature about the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. The movie starring Al Pacino was filmed from September 2023 until January 2024. A release date has not been set.
As we learn more about these upcoming projects and Jeanne Du Barry, we’ll keep you posted.