As Johnny Depp prepares to release his latest film Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness, the Pirates of the Caribbean star is opening up about how much he idolizes Amedeo Modigliani – the tortured artist the film is based on.
Can reveal Depp and Modigliani share similarities in both their art and their troubled lives.
The parallels in their lives are coming to the surface as Depp tries to recover from his hellish defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard while telling the story of the Italian painter and sculptor.
During a press conference for Modi at the San Sebastian Film Festival, the Donnie Brasco star was asked about the comparisons between him the film’s protagonist.
Depp said, as artists, they have both had to earn their stripes.
He responded: “Sure, we can say that I’ve been through a number of things here and there, but I’m alright.”
Depp, 61, then seemed to allude to his recent legal battle with ex-wife Heard, saying: “I think we’ve all been through a number of things, ultimately… Maybe yours didn’t turn into a soap opera, televised in fact, but we all experience and go through what we go through.”
Depp, known for his eclectic lifestyle and eccentric film choices, explained to Variety his affinity for the film’s subject.
He said: “Modigliani was, of course, one of the great contemporary artists of all time.
“But he also represented an era and point of view where new possibilities still existed. His vision fascinates me.
“He doggedly walked to the beat of his own drum and possessed a natural allergy for convention during a time when the norm was being openly challenged across every medium.
“It would be foolish not to admit that everything Modigliani ever stood for, and continues to stand for, resonates deeply within me.”
Much like Depp, whose past drug and alcohol issues were confirmed during the Heard trial, Modigliani had his own troubles.
When he first arrived in Paris in 1906, he wrote home regularly to his mother, sketched his nudes at the Académie Colarossi and drank wine in moderation.
After a year in the City of Light, Modigliani had reportedly crafted a false persona for himself as a hopeless drunk and voracious drug user.
Friends ultimately assumed his drip and alcohol intake may have been a way to cover up his tuberculosis. He died in January 1920 aged 35.
Depp may also be taking his idolization of Modigliani to a different level by adopting a new lifestyle as a “bohemian artist”.
As reported, Depp was spotted in London’s Soho draped in scruffy clothes and wearing paint-splattered shoes over the summer.
His new look apparently allows the Fantastic Beasts star to navigate London anonymously.
A source said: “Johnny usually causes a stir wherever he goes – but not in London.”
Depp has dabbled in painting for years, and during his time in London, he has also put on a string of exhibitions.
In 2022, he raised $4million by selling paintings of pop culture icons Keith Richards, actress Liz Taylor, actor Al Pacino and songsmith Bob Dylan.
His most recent paintings of ‘The Bunnyman’ have brought in a fortune – selling for nearly $25,000 a pop.
After seeing a sketch by his son Jack, 22, Depp created his latest pieces of a haunting half-man, half-rabbit who had appeared to both father and son in their dreams.
