Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp is best-known for playing Captain Jack Sparrow in the blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise, but insiders say that real-life outlaw John Dillinger is a role that Depp may hold closest to his heart. In the crime drama "Public Enemies," Depp plays notorious bank robber Dillinger with style, charisma and enough of a dangerous edge to remind people why Dillinger was once considered "Public Enemy Number One" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation during his biggest crime sprees in the early 1930s. While on the run from the law, Dillinger is hunted by FBI agent Melvin Purvis (played by Christian Bale), and Dillinger gets romantically involved with Billie Frechette (played by Marion Cotillard), a coat-check girl who falls for Dillinger’s charms.
"Public Enemies" was shot in various parts of the Midwest — often in the same locations where Dillinger committed crimes and dodged the law. While filming the movie and at the "Public Enemies’ press junket in Chicago, Depp sat down to talk about how he came to embody Dillinger, what real prisoners did when Depp filmed "Public Enemies" on location at Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois, and why Dillinger’s legend endures to this day.
Why do you think the public is still fascinated with John Dillinger?
I think the fascination is well-earned. I think Dillinger worked hard for it — with a lot of those people, because they were able to get away with, at least for a certain period, all the stuff that everyone wanted to get away with. So there’s an element of Dillinger in a number of these people — especially John Dillinger, for me, there’s this larger-than-life, mythic quality.
Johnny Depp in "Public Enemies"
Dillinger spent almost 10 years in prison before he became famous. How do you think that his early prison experience affected him?
Dillinger was born out of one act of ignorance, in fact. There was a moment of a combination of youth, ignorance and drunkenness. At one point or another, all three of those things meet. And it was when he robbed, I think, a local grocer or something. He bagged the guy with a sackful of rocks or something, and the cops picked up on [Dillinger]. When he got busted, the judge had absolutely no time for him whatsoever, and he was sentenced to a very, very long, harsh sentence. I think he was sent to prison for 10 years. And he was maybe 19, 18 at the time; he was a kid.
And 10 years in the joint at that time was like going in when the world was black and white, and coming out when it was vivid. You know, ladies were wearing shorter dresses, revealing clothes, tight sweaters. It was like, "What!" And also, going to prison at that time was like a school for him. He went in and learned how to become a bank robber.
Johnny Depp in "Public Enemies"
When Dillinger was alive, he was adored by much of the public, even though he was a known criminal. Why do you think he managed to have so many fans?
Dillinger was extremely savvy for a guy who basically had come up from nowhere. [Dillinger] knew that his love for the people and the people’s love for him would work in his favor. So on some level there was sort of a Robin Hood in John Dillinger — and he used that. He was not dumb; he was very smart to use that.
Johnny Depp in "Public Enemies"
What was the essence of Dillinger’s charisma?
He didn’t see himself as a criminal in a bad way. I mean, he went out there as a rock’n’roll star, John Dilllinger. He spoke to them and owned them while he was speaking to them. He was very, very charismatic and very powerful in that way. And every time he spoke, he made [J. Edgar] Hoover and his boys look like chumps. [He laughs.]
Who was the better opponent: John Dillinger or Melvin Purvis?
I’m sure Christian [Bale] would have a different point of view on this than I do, but I don’t think they were evenly matched. I think Dillinger, his instinct and abilities far surpassed that if Purvis. I think Purvis was given virtually an impossible task, and he obviously had done very well. But again, to reiterate, the only reason they got Dillinger was because somebody ratted him out. That’s it. Other than that, they’d still be debating where he ended up. I’m sure of it.
Johnny Depp in "Public Enemies"
The actors who portrayed members of Dillinger’s crew include Stephen Graham as Baby Face Nelson and Stephen Dorff as Homer Van Meter. What can you say about being part of this gang, so to speak?
The Dillinger crew, these guys were just perfect casting. I think it was the first hour, we all really felt like we’d known each other for many, many years. Basically, what I’m saying is that I’d rob a bank with any one of those guys if I wanted to. [He smiles.] Tomorrow.
Johnny Depp in "Public Enemies"
Your grandfather was a moonshine bootlegger. Did that help you connect with the character of John Dillinger?
Just to find that sort of common connection: The fact that Dillinger was born and raised about 60 or 70 miles from where I was born and raised was the moment that I could hear his voice. That was the moment I knew what he sounded like. I knew what he acted like, I knew that confidence, that strut, because I’d seen it in my grandfather and I’d seen in various men I’d known all my life, my stepfather.
Why do you think Billie Frechette was the love of John Dillinger’s life?
They were perfectly matched, weren’t they? They were perfectly suited. Here’s this guy who society had basically tucked away in a penitentiary for 10 years for some relatively small crime he committed. He got the book thrown at him. So he’s the ultimate outsider. And here’s this half-French, half-Indian girl that was certainly frowned upon in hoity-toity society back then. I think they had an instant connection and there was an instant sort of fire between them.
Johnny Depp in "Public Enemies"
Can you talk about the experience of going to Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois?
Stateville was wild, because it’s an active prison and we were shooting there. Funnily enough, my stepfather had spent some of his time there. He’d done a few years in Stateville. And then they took us to the maximum security section. All these guys were in there, hundreds and hundreds of guys were there in lockdown. They were looking out of their bars and doors and screaming, "Hey, Captain Jack! Come get me! Come and help me escape!"
How did you feel when you were there?
It’s pretty intense. I’ll never forget: There’s a sign that I saw on the cafeteria wall that said, "Please sit down when shots are fired." Not if shots are fired, when shots are fired. That’s the image I’ll probably take with me to my grave.
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Photo credits: Universal Pictures
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