Johnny Depp 'I Am The 2,000-Year-Old Man!'

Johnny Depp is back in the limelight. Behind the camera, he has directed his second film, MODI, set for release this autumn. In front of the camera, he is still embodying "SAUVAGE" for Christian Dior Parfums with a new scent, "EAU FORTE". In this exclusive interview with ELLE, the polymorphous artist opens up about his creative journey.

- VIRGINIE DOLATA

Johnny Depp appears on the Zoom screen, wearing a Rasta beanie tilted to one side, small tinted glasses, a pale pink T-shirt under an open beige shirt, and stacks of bracelets, leather straps, and rings. There he is, in all his real-life glory, as he props himself up in the middle of a sofa, somewhere on planet Earth.

"I am the 2,000-year-old man!" he proclaims, though officially, he's 61. If time travel could exist, he'd probably be on board with the idea, sharing that "I really don't want to live in these times when you know how much cooler it was way back when!"

Nonetheless, Depp is in a good mood: "I was saying earlier that you were the Beauty Editor, they should have sent the Ugly Editor! [laughs]." It's off to a strong start. The facetious humour is reminiscent of a certain Jack Sparrow, a character that the actor's fan base of 29 million followers on Instagram is feverishly hoping that he will reprise in the sixth opus of Pirates of the Caribbean. "Touché coulé", most probably! For now, his new direction is as a film director. He has just completed Modi, retracing some incredible adventures of the painter Modigliani with his fellow Parisian bohemians.

Suddenly, the film legend is frozen on my screen, but his voice maintains its trademark slow flow, warm and deep texture.