Johnny Depp, Fedora Ambassador

[hatflick1]

Spotted a poster in a shop on Melrose today. It's Johnny Depp wearing yet another fedora. This one actually looks new as opposed to the more 'salty' models I have seen him sport during interviews. Wonder where he gets them all??? He also likes diner coffee eschewing the designer cafe trend. Maybe we should hook him into The Lounge.

 

[jamespowers]

Can you imagine getting a celebrity visitor?

You never know - in fact maybe he posts here under an alias....

In that case I take back all the bad things I have written about him---well most of them. Ok, maybe just a few.

Regards to all,

J

 

[matei]

He wore a fedora to the Willie Wonka premier as well... Pretty cool shades as well:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/391902820/393059879qyCnUf

http://community.webshots.com/photo/391902820/393059887nxJuRi

 

[jamespowers]

If it were not for the crown rake, he looks like he is wearing the hat backward here:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/393059887/393059887nxJuRi

I don't know about him being a good ambassador. Wearing it like that just looks wierd.

Regards to all,

J

 

[scotrace]

Yup, That is Backward

And he somehow pulls it off.

I always enjoy his films. Saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory last night. All I can say is that it is a Tim Burton film.

 

[shamus]

I don't think he pulls it off.

We're just used to him dressing weird. He's always done that. We expect him to be weird looking in dress.

If he dressed "normal" then we would be, "Did you see what he was wearing!"

 

[jamespowers]

And he somehow pulls it off.

Yep, he makes me want to pull it off and fix it right.
I think of him as a Michael Jackson without all the child problems.

Regards to all,

J

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Say what you will, guys, that is one gorgeous guy, an excellent actor, and I like his hat -- looks a little curled up in front in this photo, too. Wonder if it's the same one?

http://www.poster.net/depp-johnny/depp-johnny-portrait-with-hat-6500207.jpg

See if that comes up, so much stuff to put in.

karol

 

[jamespowers]

Hmmm... I decided to do a survey around here with that picture. I asked 5 women what they thought of the photo and got back some interesting results---all bad---and it wasn't because I was leading them either.
The worst comment was "if he had been born 100 years ago he probably would have been a circus freak." The other one was: "if I was walking down the street with my daughter and she looked at him, I would give her a hard yank by the arm and steer her in the opposite direction." The funniest was: "Is that a man or a woman?"

Regards to all,

J

 

[scotrace]

All Relative

I agree, K.D. I certainly wouldn't object to looking like him.

In the world in which actors move, he is somewhat odd. In Paris, he's an American they can accept. In Nebraska, he's a circus freak.

I have to smile when I read posts knocking the fashion choices of others. Isn't this board all about taking care not to be another pathetic sheep following the herd?

Some people might find a chap who wears a top hat to the bank a little snipe-worthy.
(poke poke)

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Hopefully, James, they didn't say "man or woman?" when they saw the photo in which he wears a beard.... Not that I haven't seen some bearded ladies in my time.

I think actors like Depp take great pains not to be branded as pretty boys; it would certainly have been easy enough for him. He wanted to be taken seriously as an actor with depth and range. I have no doubt he could do a more "macho than thou" turn if he wanted to.

The best actors in the world are versatile. My favorite actor of all was the late Alec Guiness -- like many of the best English actors of his generation, you hardly could recognize him from one film to another. He dressed up as an old woman in one of his films.

Good actors pride themselves in being able to do a range of characters. I played everything on stage from neurotic young ingenues to a hatchet murderess. And, yes, I dressed in drag in one play (Shakespeare's Twelfth Night). It was fun and I got to wear and use a sword.

As for beards, we had to practise putting them on in costume and makeup classes. I look best in a Fu Manchu and a King Arthur beard, though my favorite is to make myself up to look like a werewolf on Halloween.

Actors and artists can be eccentric, many of them. Sarah Bernhardt, the great stage actress at the turn of the century, used to travel around with a huge entourage of characters, including pet cheetahs and her own coffin she allegedly sometimes slept in.

Scotrace -- yes, I wonder what some folks think of us in our retro hats and clothes and cars and manners. We believe ourselves to be grand and eloquent, others are probably not so kind to us. They may not always say it out loud, but they think it: Freaks From Another Era, or Living in the Past, or the one I usually get: "you're weird."

In Nebraska, or in Iowa, where I am moving in a few months to be with my sainted mother (god help me), we are all Freaks.

Oh, well....

karol

 

[jamespowers]

Hmmmm... I don't think I would put Sir Alec Guiness in the same class as Johnny Depp. More in the same class as Edgar Allan Poe or perhaps Sal Mineo but not Guiness.
I didn't say what he looked like (circus freak or otherwise). Those were comments I got when I printed out the pictures you linked to and showed them to a few women around here. The ones that I posted were the ones that I could. Some of the other ones had too many demaening or derogatory words in them. Try it out yourself. Print out the picture and show it around. Ask the people what they think---whithout leading them---and let me know what they say.
My objection to him is mostly what he thinks more than what he looks like. When someone says that America is not good enough to raise his children in then I have something to say. It is good enough for him to make money but not good enough for him to raise children. I see a disconnect or a mercenary streak there---maybe even a little hypocisy. "Go see my movies and spend money on my works but you are not good enough for my children"? He can stay in France for all I care.

Regards to all,

J

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I have known of a number of wealthy people, mostly actors, who felt that way. I am not sure it was always "good enough" as much as their being fearful of the anger and violence they encountered over here -- and so fled to Europe so their kids could go to Swiss boarding schools and be sheltered from all of ... whatever it was they were afraid of. That was back in the 70's and I guess some still feel that way.

However, the violence is all over the place, now. We can run, but we cannot hide.

I agree on any Depp/Guiness comparison. No one compares to Sir Alec Guiness, no one. They may aspire to be like him, but, good luck. We have DeNiro and Pacino and Hoffman and Penn -- great actors, but no match.

We would have had to take Depp about 20 years ago, send him over to the provences, and have him do Shakespeare and more Shakespeare and some other heavy classics. Then, we could see what he would be like today. Probably nowhere near Guiness, maybe close to Chamberlain. Maybe.

karol

 

[jamespowers]

I have known of a number of wealthy people, mostly actors, who felt that way. I am not sure it was always "good enough" as much as their being fearful of the anger and violence they encountered over here -- and so fled to Europe so their kids could go to Swiss boarding schools and be sheltered from all of ... whatever it was they were afraid of. That was back in the 70's and I guess some still feel that way.

However, the violence is all over the place, now. We can run, but we cannot hide.

I agree on any Depp/Guiness comparison. No one compares to Sir Alec Guiness, no one. They may aspire to be like him, but, good luck. We have DeNiro and Pacino and Hoffman and Penn -- great actors, but no match.

We would have had to take Depp about 20 years ago, send him over to the provences, and have him do Shakespeare and more Shakespeare and some other heavy classics. Then, we could see what he would be like today. Probably nowhere near Guiness, maybe close to Chamberlain. Maybe.

I can agree with that. I think the classics and training in classical theatre makes one concentrate more with the character than with the scene. Its the movement, the action, the cadence of the voice and the tone of voice that can do so much for a scene whether it be on a stage or in a movie. It was mentioned elsewhere that actors of the golden age were not only actors but singers, dancers and a host of other things that made them versatile. Remember Danny Kaye, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and the like. After the big Hollywood studio's way of developing an actor died and their way of doing things went by the wayside, an actor with limited talents could go farther than before.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Brad Bowers]

The Studio System had a way of producing great actors and actresses, but it was also a hellish way of life for them. Sometimes, though, I wish we could go back to that system, just so we could get some worthwhile actors and actresses.

Not to imply that Johnny Depp isn't good. I've seen him in Pirates of the Caribbean and Finding Neverland, two really diverse roles, and he was good in both, so I guess he's a competent actor.

Brad

 

[Biltmore Bob]

You call that a beard? I could grow more than that in High School.

Like Johnny boy or not for what he is, I don't think he does any justice to the hat.

 

[Renderking Fisk]

Can you imagine getting a celebrity visitor?

I regard all the members here in good standing to be celeberties.

About Mr. Depp. I want to like the guy, I really do. But when he starts talking about politics he comes off like a sheltered actor/performer who either makes it up as he goes along or gets his news from The World Weekly News Tabloids.

In the ads for "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory," Depp comes off as being too much like Micheal Jaxson - Trying to be pretty and working too hard to seduce children into his lare.

 

[badhatter]

I think he's ok...good actor!

 

[Biltmore Bob]

He chooses to live in France, therefore I don't like him.

 

[varga49]

I don't think he pulls it off.

We're just used to him dressing weird. He's always done that. We expect him to be weird looking in dress.

If he dressed "normal" then we would be, "Did you see what he was wearing!"

DITTO!...Johnny if you're reading this...Always,Always look inside your hat before putting it on young man!

PS No offense but I really preferred Gene Wilder as Willie!