The January 19th issue of RADIO TIMES features Johnny Depp on the cover and Andrew Duncan’s interview with Johnny Depp and Tim Burton inside. Duncan sees Johnny and Tim as “an odd couple, shackled by luck, integrity, and similar dysfunctional upbringings [. . .] . They echo each other’s vulnerabilities and both remain popular without compromising their subversive and eclectic enthusiasms,” he writes. Duncan doesn’t have much to say about SWEENEY TODD–he writes like a man who has yet to see the film–but he does elicit some fresh comments on non-SWEENEY subjects. For example, Duncan draws Tim Burton into a discussion of fatherhood:

“Johnny had children before us and it was interesting to see the subtle changes in him,” says Burton of his son Billy’s godfather. “It’s not as if he turned into ‘father knows best,’ but I could see the joy it brings to a person. It makes you more sensitive. I’ve often read that artists spend their life trying to get back to the simplicity of childhood. You see the world fresh again through your children’s eyes, and it’s quite beautiful.”

With Johnny Depp, Duncan focuses on music, suggesting that since Johnny’s “first love was guitar playing . . . he’s really a failed musician.” Johnny agrees with that diagnosis. “And I might be a failed actor, too,” Johnny adds. “Who knows? I’m still a musician. The joy of falling in love with a musical instrument is that it will never go away and you won’t stop playing.” As a musician, is he happy with his singing in SWEENEY TODD? Replies Johnny, “I’m happy it’s done.”

The Zone thanks Gilbert’s Girl and In-too-Depp for sharing the news with us; you can read more of Andrew Duncan’s interview on the News & Views forum. –Part-Time Poet