JohnnyDepp-Zone.com

In a charming interview, French director Yvan Attal discusses how he happened to approach Johnny Depp about playing his heroine’s “dream man” in his film ILS SE MARIERENT . . . . Why did he think of Johnny to play the fantasy of a perfect man? Attal replies, “When I wrote the script I thought…who will be this guy for whom all women will fall? And…right away I thought about him!” Don’t miss Attal’s account of having dinner with Johnny and Vanessa, or his feelings when he captured Johnny in his camera lens for the first time. The full interview is available on the Zone’s News & Views board. We thank Frenchy very much for her translation–merci beaucoup, Frenchy!–and JPduQuebec for posting the interview on the Zone.

The Toronto Film Festival will screen THE LIBERTINE as a work-in-progress at 6:30 pm on Thursday, September 16th and again at noon on Saturday, September 18th. Yvan Attal’s film, ILS SE MARIERENT . . . , in which Johnny has a cameo role as the heroine’s dream lover, will be shown at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, September 14 and again at 9:45 a.m. (yes, in the morning) on Thursday, September 16th. Festival-goers could have a double-dip of Depp on Thursday!

The Toronto Film Festival press release for THE LIBERTINE calls Johnny’s casting as the Earl of Rochester “inspired” and praises the complexity and richness of his performance: “Depp’s portrayal adroitly combines an unabashed lust for life and sheer drunken hedonism with a deep sense of sorrow, loss and regret. [. . .]The Earl is not particularly likeable and is a figure of both our contempt and envy, yet it is the very complexity of his character that allows Depp to move beyond proto-rock star swaggering and endear himself to us. His outward brilliance conceals a deep melancholic understanding that he is an earthy man living in an age devoted to enlightenment. This irony is reflected in the film’s blend of sophisticated scripting and sheer delight in the Earl’s depravity, making THE LIBERTINE an irresistible mixture of wit, vulgarity, romance and tragedy.”

Thanks to FANtasticJD for posting the TFF press release. Variety staff reporter Dana Harris predicts a bidding war among U.S. distributors for THE LIBERTINE, based on the Toronto screenings. We certainly hope so! Thanks to DeepinDepp for posting the Variety article.