‘I thought someone made a terrible misspelling somewhere’: Johnny Depp is as surprised as the rest of us for being cast in ‘Jeanne du Barry’

I love Cannes. A festival unlike any other, Cannes is the epitome of independent (and sometimes no-so-independent) filmmaking. Creators far and wide flock to France to share their stories, watch others, and hopefully win a few awards in the process. As a writer, it’s incredibly satisfying to cover, as a filmmaker — I hope to get there someday. We’ve all got to have a dream, right?

One of the biggest stories to come out of Cannes this year surrounds Johnny Depp’s return to the spotlight in Jeanne du Barry, a French-language film that marks the 59-year-old actors first major role since his incredibly public defamation trial. In a Twitter post by Variety, Depp makes light of his turn in the biographical drama, saying he thought it all was a big mistake.

When expanding on his surprise, Depp answered in a way that only he could.

“Was I surprised? Yeah. I thought there was a terrible misspelling somewhere, and that Maïwenn (French film star) and I ended up in the wrong room at the same time. I didn’t feel any hesitation with regards to the character, or the language necessarily — I didn’t find that particularly intimidating. It’s like running through the raindrops, but my question for Maïwenn when we first met was; ‘Maybe you want to try a French guy as King Louis?’”

Frankly, if I was Johnny Depp, I might have thought it was a mistake too. It’s no secret that Depp’s antics have removed him, at least a bit, from the entertainment industry at large. Now, he returns without missing a beat, and why wouldn’t he? After all, he’s Johnny frikken’ Depp.

Time will tell how Jeanne du Barry is received by the world at large, as Cannes audiences have been known to be especially unforgiving, but one thing is certain — Johnny Depp is back, sort of, and I think that’s a really good thing. We all have a few skeletons in our closet, maybe Johnny has more than a few, but the dude should be able to do his thing.

I like to live by the simple philosophy that, if it ain’t your cup of tea, leave it alone. We all have our likes and dislikes, and the fact that they’re different is what makes the world go round. Far be it from me to tear apart something you dig, just because it bothers me. If it’s not causing any real harm, why not leave it for a while? Well folks, that’s my time for today. Be good, stay crazy, tell your friends.