1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:05,040 Speaker 1: Greetings, good people of Hollywood Lands, and welcome once again 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: as we peek into our archive of stories at the 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,360 Speaker 1: intersection of Hollywood and true crime. This week, we're bringing 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: you an episode on Johnny Depp. These days, Johnny is 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: a larger than life icon Captain Jack Sparrow himself seemingly 6 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: always just a shot away from the tabloids. But back 7 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: in the day, particularly in the nineteen nineties, he was 8 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: an idol of the underground and the undersung. He possessed 9 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: a coal that you just couldn't teach. You had it 10 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: or you didn't, and Johnny had it, which led to 11 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: his portrayal of so many outsiders and misunderstoods and those 12 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:39,639 Speaker 1: making it work out in the fringes and the margins. 13 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: And while we're talking Johnny Depp, allow me to shout 14 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,320 Speaker 1: out my favorite role of his, one of his many 15 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 1: collaborations with director Tim Burton, as the title character in 16 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: the film ed Wood. It's funny, it's weird, it's endearing, 17 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: and overall, it's just playing cool. Check out this episode 18 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: and see if you agree, and then come back in 19 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: a few days when I discussed this episode with all 20 00:00:58,560 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: of you and the Rap Party. 21 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 2: Hollywood Land is a production of Double Elvis. Like We, 22 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 2: the stories about Johnny Depp are insane, so insane that 23 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 2: his arrests are the least interesting thing about him. He 24 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 2: built a bomb with gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, his 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 2: former co owner of the Viper Room, has been missing 26 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 2: since two thousand and one. He numbed himself with his 27 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 2: mother's nerve pills when he was just eleven years old. 28 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 2: Then he stayed numb as an adult by gulping down 29 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 2: everything from acid to bootleg kuailu. It's laced with arsenic. 30 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 2: But despite all that, Johnny Depp made great films, unlike 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 2: that clip I played for you at the top of 32 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 2: the show that wasn't from a great film. That was 33 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 2: a fair youse sample from the Library of Congress of 34 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 2: Hylda Lashanska performing Pirate Dreams in nineteen twenty. I played 35 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 2: you that clip because I can't afford the rights to 36 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 2: Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of 37 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 2: the Ring. And why would I play you that specific 38 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 2: slice of Middle Earth cheese? Could I afford it? Because 39 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 2: that was the number one movie in America on December 40 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 2: twenty one, two thousand and one, and that was the 41 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 2: day Johnny Depp's Viper Room co owner went missing, right 42 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 2: before he was scheduled to testify against Johnny on this 43 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:57,679 Speaker 2: episode Homemade Bombs, worldwide arrests, bootleg kueludes laced with arsenic, 44 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 2: unsolved mysteries at the Viper Room, and Johnny Depp, I'm 45 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 2: Jake Brennan and this is Hollywood Land. It was minutes 46 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 2: before Halloween, and Johnny Depp didn't have a costume. The 47 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 2: man of a thousand faces, caught without a get up 48 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 2: on the weirdest night of the year. No grease or 49 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 2: hair gel and bad boy leather Allah, john Waters his 50 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 2: cry baby, no fake scars on his cheeks or hands 51 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 2: made of scissors. The truth was, Johnny Depp didn't need 52 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 2: a costume tonight. He was wearing his own kind of disguise. 53 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 2: He was a musician. It wasn't even a front. Few 54 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 2: people in nineteen ninety three knew that Johnny started playing 55 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 2: guitar long before he ever started acting. He could play 56 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 2: so well that he could hold his own on stage 57 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 2: at the Viper Room with a who's who of the 58 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 2: nineteen nineties in attendance or on stage. Big dogs like 59 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 2: Al Jurgensen of Ministry, Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers, 60 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 2: benmont Tench, one of Tom Petty's heartbreakers, and bassist Flee, 61 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 2: who needed little introduction in nineteen ninety three, just as 62 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 2: he doesn't need one now either. Together the five men 63 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 2: formed a supergroup called pe As in the Letter. Each 64 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 2: member had megawat music credibility that preceded them everyone except 65 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,359 Speaker 2: Johnny Depp. Of course, he was the least notable musician 66 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 2: on stage at the dimly lit West Hollywood Club. It 67 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 2: was a nice break from being the most famous person 68 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 2: in the room. Johnny blended into the scenery, just one 69 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 2: detail of the viper room's claust aphobic atmosphere, air thick 70 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 2: with perspiration and smoke, stage lights boring into your retinas, 71 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 2: and the sour odor of puke hanging in the air. 72 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 2: Fucking John Fruschante, the Chili Pepper's guitars couldn't hold his 73 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 2: liquor or whatever he took that night. He rauped right 74 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 2: on the stage during his opening set. If he could 75 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 2: call one song and a couple of heaves an actual set, 76 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 2: And there was something else, a sixth sense, a creeping 77 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 2: feeling in Johnny's spine. Somewhere the club's clock brushed past midnight, 78 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 2: and it was officially Halloween. The Witching Hour, October thirty first, 79 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety three. Johnny scents the air shift as he 80 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 2: scanned the room from the stage. His gaze landed on 81 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 2: another actor mingling in the crowd. River Phoenix, light from 82 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 2: the art deco wall sconces reflected in his youthful eyes, 83 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 2: a guitar case rested by his side. River was just 84 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 2: like Johnny, actor to the world, musician to his inner circle. 85 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 2: His own band Aleka's attic was a footnote to his 86 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,720 Speaker 2: work in movies like Stand by Me in My Own 87 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 2: Private Idaho. River wasn't scheduled to perform tonight, but Johnny 88 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 2: would see if he could squeeze him in because at 89 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 2: the Viper Room, Johnny Depp called the shots. Johnny acquired 90 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 2: co ownership of the Sunset Boulevard Club just a few 91 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,840 Speaker 2: months prior. Running the Viper Room wasn't some lucrative business 92 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 2: venture to him, it was a passion project. He craved 93 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 2: a place where his celebrities didn't have to be an 94 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 2: object of fascination, where they could be shielded from the 95 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 2: burdens of fame, and no meddling reporters and no paparazzi 96 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 2: and no shrieking fans. The Viper Room was Johnny's selective 97 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 2: but not so secret hiding spot. It was just a 98 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 2: coincidence that shady shit would go down there, like illegal 99 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 2: high stakes poker games among stars like Toby maguire and 100 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 2: Leonardo DiCaprio in excess front man Michael Hudgens's final curtain 101 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 2: call just days before his suicide, and the overdoses, the overdoses, 102 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 2: Jason Donovan barely clinging to life at Kate Moss's twenty 103 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 2: first birthday bash, and Courtney Love nearly joining Kurt on 104 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 2: the other side in nineteen ninety five. She claimed Johnny 105 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 2: was the one who gave her CPR that night. But 106 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 2: the Viper Room's biggest tragedy was sitting in the crowd, 107 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 2: and he stared Johnny right in the eyes until he 108 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 2: wasn't there anymore. You know the story, River pocketing and 109 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 2: eight ball of coke and heroin, and River disappearing and 110 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,239 Speaker 2: River seizing on the sidewalk outside the club, people stepping 111 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 2: around him over him and his brother Leif now known 112 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 2: as Joaqui holding him on the concrete to stop the 113 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 2: thrashing in the River's heart, giving out River's death the 114 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 2: Viper Room's first scandal. Johnny Depp supposed Safe Haven had 115 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 2: claimed a life, and he hadn't even owned the place 116 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,559 Speaker 2: for a year. Yet the papers pounced, blamed the Viper 117 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 2: Room for River Phoenix's death and labeled the club a 118 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 2: low browed drug den. And they didn't know the truth 119 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 2: that Johnny didn't even like to indulge for shits and 120 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 2: giggles the way that other celebrities did. They didn't know 121 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 2: that he often observed the Viper Room from his own 122 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 2: VIP area, a private booth behind a two way mirror 123 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 2: that cut through the chaos and left Johnny secluded in 124 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 2: his own world. Johnny just didn't party like everyone else. 125 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 2: Truth be told, he didn't party much at all. He 126 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 2: just got numb, numb like the way he felt when 127 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 2: he drank, Numb like the way his mother's nerve pills 128 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 2: droned out the whole world when he was just eleven 129 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 2: years old. Even back then, Johnny needed a sense of 130 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 2: calm to ground him. There was nothing grounded about the 131 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 2: depth family growing up home wasn't a place for Johnny. 132 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 2: It was more of a flimsy concept. Home was ever changing, 133 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 2: with no guarantees of safety or stability. Home was wherever 134 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 2: Johnny's mother, Betty Sue said. They were going a house 135 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,839 Speaker 2: one month, and maybe a farm the next, and then 136 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,120 Speaker 2: a stint in a motel, only to haul all their 137 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 2: belongings over to a different house. Often there was no 138 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 2: rhyme or reason behind the moves. And that was the 139 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,480 Speaker 2: thing about Betty Sue. She didn't always have a reason 140 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 2: for what she did. Not when she forced her family 141 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 2: into a nomadic lifestyle, moving between thirty and forty times 142 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:48,680 Speaker 2: during Johnny's childhood thirty and forty times, and not when 143 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:53,080 Speaker 2: she hurled household objects at Johnny's face, ashtrays, phones, you 144 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 2: name it. Johnny and his siblings were afraid to speak. 145 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 2: He called the various abodes ghost houses. Johnny dealt with 146 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 2: his mother's haunting presence the only way he could, with 147 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 2: compassion and chemicals. When Betty Sue returned from her double 148 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,080 Speaker 2: shifts as a waitress, Johnny would emerge from his room 149 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 2: long enough to rub her feet and help counter tips. 150 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 2: While he was at it, maybe he would slip a 151 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 2: few of her nerve pills. The fact that Johnny was 152 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 2: only eleven years old didn't FaZe him. The Depp family 153 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 2: started everything early. Johnny shot his first gun at five 154 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 2: or six years old, started smoking at age twelve, lost 155 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 2: his virginity at thirteen, picked up drinking somewhere in between. 156 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 2: Even Betty Sue was on drugs by age twelve. This 157 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,679 Speaker 2: was all par for the course. Johnny's upbringing wasn't all 158 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 2: doom and gloom, though he carried certain fond memories with 159 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 2: him into adulthood. The Kentucky afternoons picking tobacco with his 160 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 2: pawpop Knights, trapping lightning bugs under the glow of the moon, 161 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 2: His simple dreams of being the first white Harlem globe trotter, 162 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,199 Speaker 2: and the goofy nicknames from the kids at school Johnny 163 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 2: dipp Deputy Dog, Dippity Doo. They were all fragments of 164 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 2: the average American childhood in the nineteen sixties and seventies. 165 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 2: But the beatings, the constant moving in, the adolescent drug 166 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 2: use that wasn't so normal. In fact, what was normal 167 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 2: to Johnny was alarmingly abnormal to everyone else. His childhood 168 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 2: skewed his perspective towards the unusual, the oddities of the 169 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 2: world the others. Those years molded him as the ideal 170 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:38,439 Speaker 2: actor for unusual roles and adventurous arflix that would astound 171 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 2: the average American. It was something Johnny would never outgrow. 172 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 2: His will to be weird clung to him, just like 173 00:11:46,880 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 2: his need to get numb. The sky over Sunset Boulevard 174 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 2: looked ready for its close up, neat lines of palm 175 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 2: trees reaching towards a blanket of dark blue. Strips of 176 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,079 Speaker 2: orange on the horizon shrinking away and were replaced by 177 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 2: the vibrant hues of neon signs awakening in the windows 178 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 2: of clubs and cheap takeout joints, Tourists swarming into the 179 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 2: light like moths under the last glimmers of daylight, as 180 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 2: celebrities and convertibles snaked in the Beverly Hills undetected. They 181 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:50,600 Speaker 2: called it Sunset Boulevard for a reason. No sight in 182 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 2: Hollywood was more glorious than the strip at this hour. 183 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 2: It was straight out of a movie set. It was 184 00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:59,760 Speaker 2: even better if he drank it in from a decent 185 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:05,719 Speaker 2: mtage point, like the view from Atlantic Records Headquarters. That's 186 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 2: where Johnny was right now, But he wasn't admiring the 187 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 2: view because he was sprinting around the building eight stories 188 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 2: in the air on scaffolding. Johnny's footsteps hammered on the 189 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 2: wooden boards around the exterior of Atlantic Records as headquarters. 190 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 2: His buddy Evan stayed hot on his tail, and the 191 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 2: glowing view of Sunset Boulevard flew by and the periphery 192 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,560 Speaker 2: as their clumsy elephant steps circled the building over and 193 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 2: over and over and over again. One hundred feet separated 194 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 2: them from the pavement below, and not super high, but 195 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,719 Speaker 2: high enough to make your skeleton go splat when it 196 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:46,559 Speaker 2: hit the string. Johnny and Evan, though they were super high, 197 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 2: and their current acid trip literally sent them off to 198 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,800 Speaker 2: the races a few minutes ago, they could barely move, 199 00:13:54,080 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 2: let alone a sprint. Johnny and Evan were immobilesmerized by 200 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 2: the seductive French pop of stereolabs spilling from the stereo. 201 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,679 Speaker 2: They drooped in their chairs while taking pensive drags of cigarettes. 202 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 2: They had two settings, tonight stone still or giggle fits, 203 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 2: and they alternated between the two states rapidly smoke giggle, smoke, giggle. 204 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 2: Except nothing was funny about Atlantic records at seven pm 205 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 2: on a weeknight, especially not to the label employee babysitting them. 206 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 2: He studied the friends from behind his desk as he 207 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 2: sorted through old receipts. Evan here the friend, wasn't an 208 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 2: actor like Johnny. He was a musician, frontman of the 209 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 2: nineties alternative man the Lemonheads. The Lemonheads had a deal 210 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 2: with Atlantic, which meant Evan had a place to pause 211 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 2: for a smoke whenever he needed one. He found the 212 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 2: lone employee on the eighth floor and asked to bump 213 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 2: a few cigarettes one faithful night in nineteen ninety three, 214 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 2: and then a few smokes turned into a casual hang. 215 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 2: Johnny and Evan were like two teenagers sprawled out in 216 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 2: a bedroom, sneaking a joint and listening to a new 217 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 2: record for the first time, And eventually Evan had the 218 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 2: courtesy to lean over and clue the employee in he 219 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 2: and Johnny were tripping their balls off, and the employee 220 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 2: raised his eyebrows as if to say, well, that explains it. 221 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 2: It also explained why the pair up and left just 222 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 2: as suddenly as they entered. At least the employee thought 223 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 2: they left the scene outside his window told him otherwise. 224 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 2: Johnny and Evan silhouettes shot by the window like cannonballs. 225 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 2: Hi people find the weirdest things, like an opening to 226 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 2: exterior scaffolding. Apparently either Johnny or Evan had the idea 227 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 2: to weasel their way outside to get some laps in, 228 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,480 Speaker 2: and the employee could hear them winding around the building 229 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 2: on the scaffolding like a roller coaster gaining momentum for 230 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 2: its final drop, and that was something that the employe 231 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 2: didn't want to stick around for. Johnny and Evan were 232 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 2: outside his office now and therefore outside his jurisdiction. He 233 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:04,120 Speaker 2: packed up his paperwork and braced himself for two gone 234 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 2: too Soon articles in the paper the next day, but 235 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 2: the tragic news never came. It's easy to miss something 236 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 2: weird going on in Hollywood. People didn't pay any mind 237 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 2: a river phoenix convulsing on the sidewalk, literally dying right 238 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 2: in front of them, and Johnny Depp and Evan Dando 239 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 2: running laps around scaffolding up high on a building was 240 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 2: no different either. The buzzing me on nightlife that averted 241 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 2: everyone's attention. Johnny didn't feel pressure to be a spectacle tonight, 242 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 2: even though in that moment, he most definitely was a spectacle. 243 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 2: That was how he liked it. Under the radar. Johnny 244 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 2: didn't move to the West Coast to be preserved on 245 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 2: a pedestal. He chased a different American dream, a life 246 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 2: like the one Evan Dando was already living. Johnny Depp 247 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 2: didn't come to California to act. Johnny Depp came to 248 00:16:52,760 --> 00:17:00,080 Speaker 2: California to make rock and roll. In the nineteen eighty, 249 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 2: before Johnny Depp could even fathom being in a band 250 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 2: like p he performed in a different group. They called 251 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 2: themselves The Kids, who was a simple, honest name. Johnny 252 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 2: and his crew were actual kids, fresh high school dropouts 253 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 2: who knew rock and roll fame awaited them on the 254 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 2: Golden Coast. Grown ups dug the Kids sound enough to 255 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:23,760 Speaker 2: put them on the same bills as actual rock stars. 256 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 2: They opened for Talking Heads, the Ramones, the Pretenders, the 257 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 2: B fifty two's, and they even opened for Iggy Pop, 258 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 2: who Johnny called Iggy Poop to his face. Iggy fired 259 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 2: back and called Johnny a little turd. An attitude like 260 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 2: that could kill your chances in the entertainment business. But 261 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 2: the reality was it wasn't a bad gig that sunk 262 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 2: the kids. They just couldn't keep up with the financial 263 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 2: burdens of adulthood out west. When the band split up 264 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 2: to pursue grown up jobs, Johnny Depp turned to telemarketing 265 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 2: hawking pens. Telemarketers lie a lot most salesmen do. Do 266 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 2: you want to win a trip to the coast of Greece? Finally, 267 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,680 Speaker 2: crafted grandfather clock, Step right up and sign along the 268 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 2: dotted line with your brand new pen for a chance 269 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 2: to win. Johnny got so good at lying that he 270 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 2: called the job his first acting gig, and he meant 271 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 2: it as a joke. But when the real acting gig 272 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,680 Speaker 2: started to come, no one was laughing because no one 273 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 2: sold the lie better than Johnny Depp. He sold the 274 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 2: scene of a teenager being swallowed whole by a bed 275 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:34,160 Speaker 2: and a nightmare on Elm Street. He sold a glimpse 276 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,600 Speaker 2: of a due US Army soldier's final moments and platoon, 277 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 2: and for four god awful years, he sold the lie 278 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 2: that he was an undercover cop in a Fox TV 279 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:47,720 Speaker 2: show called twenty one Jump Street. And that was one 280 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 2: lie that made Johnny Depp's stomach curdle. He didn't see 281 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 2: any art in those scripts. He saw dollar Science, Dollar 282 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 2: Science for Fox. Twenty one Jump Street made Johnny famous, 283 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 2: but it made am a commercial commodity too, so he 284 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 2: turned down the lead and interview with a vampire and 285 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 2: let Tom Cruise step in instead. Brad Pick got Johnny's 286 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 2: rejected role as Tristan Ludlow and Legends of the Fall, 287 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,280 Speaker 2: and a little actor named Keanu Reeves accepted the main 288 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 2: role in Speed, also first offered to Johnny and rocketed 289 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,200 Speaker 2: to the top of Hollywood's A list. Johnny had a 290 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 2: name for actors like those, Blockbuster Boy. He wanted no 291 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 2: part of that kind of trajectory. Making music didn't work 292 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,399 Speaker 2: out for Johnny, and that was fine, But he wouldn't 293 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 2: let go of making your art. He swore he wouldn't 294 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,160 Speaker 2: stoop as low as he did for twenty one Jump 295 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 2: Street ever. Again. You could take the music out of 296 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 2: Johnny Depp's career, but you couldn't take out the creativity. 297 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,679 Speaker 2: Roger Daltrey stared at the wall of his hotel and 298 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 2: tried to picture what the hell could be happening on 299 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 2: the other side. The noises in the next room sounded 300 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,159 Speaker 2: like an elephant trampling a furniture store at either that 301 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 2: or a rabid raccoon bouncing off the walls, and that 302 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 2: was it. Roger didn't give a shit about the reason anymore. 303 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 2: He could deal with NOI Sure he was the front 304 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,920 Speaker 2: man of the hoop, but he didn't pay twelve hundred 305 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 2: dollars a night to listen to glass shattering. At five 306 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 2: point thirty in the morning, he dialed for security and 307 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 2: let the guards discover what exactly was behind door number 308 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 2: one four to one zero at Manhattan's Mark Hotel that 309 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 2: morning September thirteenth, nineteen ninety four, overturned furniture, a shattered glass, 310 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 2: coffee table, legs snapped off in frustration, smashed china and 311 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 2: antique picture frames, and Johnny Depp sat in the middle 312 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 2: of the heat nursing a cigarette. His then girlfriend, British 313 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 2: supermodel Kate moss lingered nearby unharmed. Trashing hotel rooms is 314 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 2: practically a celebrity's rite of passage. Joe Walsh from The 315 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 2: Eagles took chainsaws to furniture and once racked up a 316 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,160 Speaker 2: twenty eight thousand dollars bill in damages, alongside John Belushi 317 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 2: and Glenn Fry Arrowsmith threw televisions into TV pools while 318 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,879 Speaker 2: they were still plugged in. But the debris surrounding Johnny 319 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 2: Depp wasn't the result of him cutting loose after a 320 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 2: few drinks. It was the aftermath of being the media's 321 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 2: novelty boy, as Johnny called it, a potent mixture of rage, 322 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 2: discussed and frustration. He threw one swing at the sofa 323 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 2: for every paparazzo who chased him earlier that day, a 324 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 2: kick through the glass coffee table for each person who 325 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 2: told him to take bigger roles, boring, soulless blockbuster rolls 326 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 2: that paid better in cash but felt artistically bankrupt. He 327 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 2: heard the empty refrain all the time, come on, do 328 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,760 Speaker 2: this movie, you can make tons of money, And as 329 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 2: if it was about the paycheck, how many times had 330 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 2: he heard that before? Johnny wasn't interested in any twenty 331 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:58,920 Speaker 2: one Jump Street bullshit anymore. He liked his oddball rolls. 332 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:02,120 Speaker 2: He liked playing a puppy dog had freak in Edward Scissorhands. 333 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 2: He liked becoming John Waters's vision of a bad boy 334 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 2: and crybaby. He liked breaking barriers by transforming into a 335 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 2: delusional cross dressing director for ed Wood and while taking 336 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 2: the lead and What's eating Gilbert Grave was a downer, 337 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 2: but Art was a downer. Sometimes better to be a 338 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 2: downer with a message than a happy, go lucky fuck 339 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 2: with nothing to say. Now, that was a letdown. All 340 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,680 Speaker 2: the pressure and aggravation had been snowballing inside Johnny building 341 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 2: and building since the day he left twenty one Jump Street. 342 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 2: Tonight's eruption was inevitable, not that Johnny told security any 343 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 2: of that. He placed the blame elsewhere. Said a wild 344 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,719 Speaker 2: animal sprang out of the closet and made a multi 345 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,920 Speaker 2: thousand dollars mess while he chased after it, And as 346 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 2: they arrested him and slapped him with the balance of 347 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 2: nine seven hundred dollars, Johnny Depp said, they were in 348 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:55,520 Speaker 2: Armadillo country. 349 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. 350 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:10,880 Speaker 2: We're we're where Johnny Depp squatted over the propane tank 351 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 2: in the dark. He taped matchbox sized squares to the 352 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 2: sides one by one, just as he was told. The 353 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 2: embers of the cigarette dangling from his lips lit the 354 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 2: way in the murky Colorado night. Johnny didn't know he 355 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 2: was building a powerful bond with a relative stranger, No 356 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 2: less He turned to his new pal, Hunter S. Thompson, 357 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:39,640 Speaker 2: What are these things? Hunter fired back with nonchalance, Oh, 358 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 2: that's letroglycerin. The butt nearly fell out of Johnny's mouth. 359 00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 2: Of course, the infamous Gonzo journalist kept explosives around just 360 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:54,159 Speaker 2: for kicks. This was Hunter S. Thompson, the godfather of 361 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 2: modern journalism at the time, veteran reporter with an encyclopedic 362 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 2: knowledge of politics and every form of danger known to 363 00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 2: the modern world. Johnny couldn't chicken out now. He taped 364 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,640 Speaker 2: the last squares of nitroglycer into the tank and took 365 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:16,199 Speaker 2: the twelve gage shotgun Hunter handed him without hesitation. The 366 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 2: Kentucky boy inside, Johnny took it from there. One shot 367 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 2: was all he heated. The bomb rocketed eighty feet into 368 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 2: the Colorado sky. There was no propane tank anymore, only 369 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:33,199 Speaker 2: a homemade fireball propelled straight towards the moon. If this 370 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 2: was a test, then Johnny passed muster with Hunter immediately. 371 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,879 Speaker 2: But this was no surprise. Johnny and Hunter were like 372 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 2: two shells and a shotgun, two Kentucky born Southern gentlemen, 373 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,879 Speaker 2: two kings of American counterculture with unorthodox definitions of fun. 374 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 2: They bonded so quickly you'd never guess they only met 375 00:24:55,400 --> 00:25:04,199 Speaker 2: earlier that afternoon. Out of my way, you bastards. Hunter S. 376 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 2: Thompson barged into the Woody Creek Tavern like he owned 377 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 2: the damn place. A three foot cattle prod in one hand, 378 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 2: Taser got in the other. Hunter called them is just 379 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 2: in case weapons. Bodies lurched away from Hunter's weapons. As 380 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 2: he approached Johnny's table, he introduced himself as Hunter, no 381 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,520 Speaker 2: last name needed. The simple hello led to an entire 382 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,400 Speaker 2: day and night drinking at the tavern, and that led 383 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 2: to a personal invitation to Hunter's nearby ranch, which of 384 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:38,440 Speaker 2: course ended in a lifelong friendship forged in flammables and explosives. 385 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,720 Speaker 2: When Universal needed a lead for a film rendition of 386 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 2: Hunter's nineteen seventy one magnum opis Fear and Loathing in 387 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 2: Las Vegas, there was only one actor who could pull 388 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 2: it off. Fear and Loathing revolves around a journalist named 389 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,680 Speaker 2: Raoul Duke. The book's main character, well really, the main 390 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:01,440 Speaker 2: character is drugs, every drug, all the drugs. Raoul was 391 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 2: the mannic narrator, gobbling every drug in sight as he 392 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 2: and his lawyer Doctor Gonzo Hunt down the last pieces 393 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 2: of the shattered American Dream and a dismal post Kennedy 394 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 2: post Martin Luther King era. Raoul is a thinly veiled, 395 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 2: if not hugely exaggerated caricature of Hunter Thompson. Johnny once 396 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 2: estimated that Raoul was ninety seven percent Hunter, and Johnny 397 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,479 Speaker 2: was pretty damn close to one hundred percent Hunter himself. 398 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 2: But he needs serious training to close the gap. You 399 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,639 Speaker 2: have to remember Hunter S. Thompson is the journalist who 400 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 2: broke bread with the Hell's Angels and documented their culture 401 00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 2: where most journalists were too chicken shit to do it. 402 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,440 Speaker 2: The same author who wrote his Raoul character hit downtown 403 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 2: in Las Vegas with and I quote two bags of grass, 404 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 2: seventy five pellets of mescal, and five sheets of high 405 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 2: power blotter acid and as salt shaker half full of cocaine, 406 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:55,120 Speaker 2: and a whole galaxy of multi colored uppers, downer, screamers 407 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 2: and laughers end quote. Oh, and a pint of raw 408 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:04,120 Speaker 2: ether and nitrate for good measure. Hunter did more than 409 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:06,480 Speaker 2: put to paper what it was like to gobble through 410 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,880 Speaker 2: Sin City in the nineteen seventies. He made a career 411 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 2: out of sinning and breaking ground while he did it. 412 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 2: Hunter S. Thompson was the ultimate novelty boy because no 413 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 2: one did anything like him. No one took drugs like him, 414 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,399 Speaker 2: no one binged drugs like him, no one wrote, no 415 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 2: one cussed like he did. And he invented an entire 416 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,639 Speaker 2: genre of writing that no one can successfully replicate to 417 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 2: this day. Try to find a modern piece of journalism 418 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:39,239 Speaker 2: that calls itself gonzo that doesn't suck. I dare you 419 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:45,120 Speaker 2: it's impossible to authentically replicate Hunter S. Thompson and Johnny 420 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:48,320 Speaker 2: Depp knew it, so he did the next best thing. 421 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 2: Johnny moved in with Hunter and started picking up his habits, mannerisms, 422 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,680 Speaker 2: ways of speaking. He kept spiders his roommates in a 423 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,359 Speaker 2: Hunter's basement, where he slept on a sofa next to 424 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 2: a keg of unpowder. Johnny trained his body to be 425 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,920 Speaker 2: on Hunter's time. Breakfast began at seven at night, followed 426 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 2: by hours of ESPN in silence, and then Hunter transformed 427 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 2: into a fountain of conversation, effervesting with thoughts and insight 428 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,960 Speaker 2: on every topic under the sun. Now he was wound up. 429 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 2: Time to hit the bar toss him back until the 430 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,199 Speaker 2: joint tossed you out for quitting time, and Johnny was 431 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,119 Speaker 2: back in bed by nine or ten in the morning. 432 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 2: The schedule really changed, but the drugs were always different. 433 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,359 Speaker 2: Johnny and Hunter liked to dabble in new chemicals together, 434 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,920 Speaker 2: test their limits, see what they can handle. They called 435 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 2: it the Too Much Fun Club because getting numb was 436 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:44,160 Speaker 2: actually fun for once. They learned that smoking mystery resin 437 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 2: made Hunter puke, but bootleg kuolodes containing arsenic made Johnny 438 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,880 Speaker 2: eager to fuck or fight. Sometimes Hunter drew the line 439 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 2: for Johnny because the drugs were too intense stuff like 440 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 2: lysergic acid, which Hunter clanned was a two day commitment. 441 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,200 Speaker 2: When Hunter s Thompson advised against the drug, that really 442 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 2: said something. When it was time to begin work on 443 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 2: Fear and Loathing in nineteen ninety seven, Johnny peeled away 444 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 2: from Asmen and Hunter's red Chevy convertible in the piercing 445 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,360 Speaker 2: Colorado winter, winding through the Rockies with the top frozen 446 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 2: open on his way to Los Angeles and buy the ticket, 447 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 2: take the ride, and don't forget what the King of 448 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 2: Gonzo tie you. The first scene Universal wanted to shoot 449 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 2: involved Raoul aka Hunter aka Johnny starting ether in the 450 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,959 Speaker 2: gaudy bowels of downtown Las Vegas. Hunter once told Johnny 451 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,520 Speaker 2: huffing the drug was the equivalent of drinking twenty three 452 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:42,000 Speaker 2: bottles of wine. Ether was off the table on set, 453 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 2: of course, but the wine wasn't. Johnny knocked back an 454 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 2: unknown amount of vino and prepared his farce. He took 455 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 2: a fake mighty whiff of his handkerchief, and then he 456 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 2: got Hunter's training. Take over. A couple of sniffs, and 457 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 2: suddenly you're leaving your body. The world sways around you, 458 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 2: and in reaction, you're the one swaying, taking awkward steps 459 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 2: like an alien and human form for the first time. 460 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 2: Lights feel heavy, They barrel into you. You're thrust into 461 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,400 Speaker 2: a vortex of neon. You're the biggest clown in Sin 462 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 2: City's carnival. You're the lion tamer and the lion. You're 463 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 2: downright dangerous, but also in danger. Your steps grow sloppier 464 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 2: and more disjointed. Hey, you're lucky if you're not drooling. 465 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 2: Which part of your body would go next? Your vision, 466 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,000 Speaker 2: your speech, your basic motor skills. All of the above. 467 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 2: Acting in fear and loathing meant that life looked like 468 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 2: a dizzy and drugged up circus, and that wasn't Johnny's problem. 469 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,000 Speaker 2: The problem was the circus didn't stop when he stepped 470 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 2: off set. A real circus followed Johnny Depp and lockstep 471 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 2: the fans, the blockbuster movie offers, the photographers, and that 472 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:56,120 Speaker 2: circus didn't stop. Even if Johnny was stone sober, even 473 00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 2: if he tried to stick to his metaphorical artistic guns, 474 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 2: he was still stuck there, woozy under the big top, 475 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 2: and the merry go Round always spawn faster and faster, 476 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:12,959 Speaker 2: Bejeweled horses galloping bucking by his side, tricked mirrors warping 477 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 2: Johnny's funny faces into cackling demons. Greedy hands clutching dollar bills, 478 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,480 Speaker 2: reaching out and dropping the cash so they can grab 479 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 2: him instead. The hands wanted more than Johnny's talent for 480 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 2: lying or i mean acting. They wanted his values, everything 481 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 2: he stood for as an artist, and they wanted his soul, 482 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 2: and then they wanted his family. Johnny Depp gripped the 483 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 2: wooden plank with fury. It wasn't a three foot cattle prod, 484 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 2: but it would do all seventeen inches of it. He 485 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:02,760 Speaker 2: found it outside on the streets of London that night, 486 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,800 Speaker 2: the same place where the paparazzi found him. Johnny swung 487 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,840 Speaker 2: the plank at one PAP's hand. The first fucking guy 488 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 2: who hits a flash, I want to kick a scullet, 489 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 2: he said, eyeing the photographers surrounding him. Johnny was fresh 490 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:21,120 Speaker 2: out of fox. Let's go, he taunted, take my picture, 491 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 2: But it wasn't a picture of Johnny. They were after 492 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 2: they needed a snap of his girlfriend, Vanessa and her 493 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 2: growing baby bump. She was carrying Johnny's first child, Tabloid Gold. 494 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 2: The invasion of privacy made Johnny fume. It was one 495 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,360 Speaker 2: thing to be treated like a novelty, a pain in 496 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,160 Speaker 2: the ass, sure, but it was his problem and his alone. 497 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 2: Johnny's family wouldn't be part of this freak show if 498 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 2: he and his wooden plank had anything to say about it. 499 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 2: The photographer is backed away from him slowly, and Johnny 500 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 2: nudged them down the street, away from Vanessa until she 501 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 2: could leave the restaurant in privacy. No snaps, no swings. 502 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:02,880 Speaker 2: All was well until the paddy wagon lights came. On 503 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:07,360 Speaker 2: December thirty first, nineteen ninety nine, the London police carted 504 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 2: Johnny downtown for his so called threatening behavior. It's bullshit, 505 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,960 Speaker 2: as if those paparazzi weren't threatening him first, preying on 506 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 2: his pregnant girlfriend. Cowards didn't even have the balls to 507 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,120 Speaker 2: file charges against Johnny that would have met exposing their 508 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 2: names to the public and legal paperwork. They preferred to 509 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:28,400 Speaker 2: remain anonymous. It must be nice. Johnny was out of 510 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 2: jail within a few hours and with no further issues, 511 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,720 Speaker 2: But the circus still wasn't over. It was two thousand, now, 512 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 2: a new millennium, a new Johnny Depp. Whether he liked 513 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,959 Speaker 2: it or not, his dreams of the nineteen nineties were 514 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,240 Speaker 2: going belly up. The Viper Room was still a taboo 515 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 2: topic all those years after River's death. One of the 516 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 2: club's co owners, Anthony Fox, suddenly insisted that Johnny and 517 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 2: some pals conspired to skim from the prophets and we're 518 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 2: talking millions here. Anthony was so insistent that he filed 519 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:01,720 Speaker 2: a law I'll suit against Johnny and four other Viper 520 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 2: Room employees. But Anthony never ended up speaking a single 521 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 2: bad word against Johnny Depp. He didn't even show up 522 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 2: to his own case because Anthony Fox went missing on 523 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,600 Speaker 2: December twenty first, two thousand and one, immediately before he 524 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 2: was scheduled to testify against Johnny. He was gone. So 525 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 2: were his pickup truck and his thirty eight caliber revolver. 526 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,960 Speaker 2: The truck turned up in Santa Clara, California a few 527 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 2: weeks later, but Anthony never turned up, and he's still missing. 528 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 2: As I record this, now first river and now another 529 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,279 Speaker 2: lost soul connected to the Viper Room, The fantasy of 530 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:42,800 Speaker 2: protection was over. A few years later, Johnny quietly passed 531 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 2: his ownership with the club to Anthony's daughter. There was 532 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 2: no use clinging to his vision any longer. He was 533 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:50,920 Speaker 2: ten years older, now old enough to know privacy and 534 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:57,279 Speaker 2: celebrity could never coexist. Johnny even jumped ship on his 535 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:00,560 Speaker 2: old ideals and finally accepted a blockbuster role in the 536 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:04,040 Speaker 2: Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. His charisma as the rum 537 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:07,680 Speaker 2: swelling Captain Jack Sparrow, a character he based on Rolling 538 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 2: Stones guitarist Keith Richards, helped Disney rake in four billion 539 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:17,280 Speaker 2: dollars worldwide. His face was everywhere posters, billboards, cereal boxes, 540 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 2: action figures, everything commercial that Johnny Depp loathed about twenty 541 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 2: one Jump Street over a decade ago was dumped back 542 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 2: in his lap. Johnny's frequent collaborator, director Tim Burton, supersized 543 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 2: his projects to match Johnny's advanced level of stardom. Johnny 544 00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:36,320 Speaker 2: became the new face of iconic characters like Willy Wonka 545 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:39,480 Speaker 2: and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Mad Hatter, and 546 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:42,800 Speaker 2: not one but two live action Alice in Wonderland Movies. 547 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:48,160 Speaker 2: Johnny's knack for lying had never been more bankable. But 548 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 2: maybe the biggest lie he ever told wasn't projected in 549 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,120 Speaker 2: front of an audience dressed as a bumbling pirate or 550 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,879 Speaker 2: a deranged chocolate tear. Maybe the biggest lie Johnny ever 551 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,720 Speaker 2: told was to himself, the lie that he could outrun 552 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,680 Speaker 2: the demands of fame, that he could break artistic ground 553 00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 2: without being perceived as a novelty. And maybe that line 554 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 2: between private and public, between art and avarice can only 555 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:28,280 Speaker 2: exist in pictures. I'm Jake Brennan and this is hollywood Land. 556 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,160 Speaker 2: Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and is produced 557 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 2: in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like, rate and review 558 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:42,360 Speaker 2: hollywood Land wherever you get your podcasts and get in 559 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:45,680 Speaker 2: touch with us on social media at double Elvis. If 560 00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:47,560 Speaker 2: you like Hollywood Land, check out my other show, the 561 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:50,640 Speaker 2: award winning Disgraceland, which looks at the world of music 562 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:53,240 Speaker 2: through the lens of true crime. Just search for Disgraceland, 563 00:36:53,440 --> 00:37:01,799 Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts. There's there's a lab.