JohnnyDepp-Zone.com

Paramount has released a feast of new film clips from Tim Burton’s SWEENEY TODD–beware of spoilers right and left, because once you start watching these intoxicating bits of film, you will not be able to stop until you have seen them all. Marvelous, spellbinding, addictive . . . there are nine separate (short) clips, including previously unseen footage of “A Little Priest,” with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter; “You Gandered at My Ward,” with Alan Rickman and Jamie Campbell Bower; and “The Contest,” with Sacha Baron Cohen in fine voice. There are also three behind-the-scenes featurettes available: one focused on the cast, one on the vision of the film, and one on the history of SWEENEY TODD. Finally, we can view two substantial behind-the-scenes clips, one devoted to the filming of “A Little Priest” and the second showing parts of “Pretty Women,” “Epiphany,” and “The Contest.” They beggar all description–you can see and hear them for yourself at iesb.net, The Movie Reporter: http://tinyurl.com/2p46bl

Many thanks to Emma for sharing the news! –Part-Time Poet

Interviews from yesterday’s round table press conference for SWEENEY TODD, held at Claridge’s in London, are beginning to surface on the Internet. Director Tim Burton and actors Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd), Helena Bonham Carter (Mrs. Lovett), and Alan Rickman (Judge Turpin) took questions from reporters in a playful hour punctuated with self-deprecating jokes and plenty of laughter. Here are Johnny and Tim discussing the pivotal moment when Sweeney the demon barber actually has to prepare to shave Judge Turpin on-screen:

Q: Can you talk about your relationship with the razors, Johnny, and how you worked with them?

Johnny Depp: Well, having worked with sharp objects before, everything was fine . . . until I actually had to shave someone.

Tim Burton: Let me just remind you of one thing. He didn’t have trouble with the razors. He was freaked out by the shaving cream.

Johnny Depp: It made me real nervous.

Tim Burton: Am I right? Was that the hardest thing that you had to do, lather up Alan Rickman?

Johnny Depp: It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life, as it would be.

Tim Burton: He was like, “I can’t do it.”

Johnny Depp: Poor Alan [Johnny laughs].

Q: Was he screaming?

Johnny Depp: He wasn’t screaming. He was close.

Tim Burton: Inside he might have been screaming.

Johnny Depp: I think that he really didn’t enjoy it. So, in that sense, I’m sure he hated working with me.

Q: It wasn’t a “Method” preparation, where you went into a barbershop and tried to learn that for two weeks?

Johnny Depp: No, no, . . . because, I mean, at the same time I didn’t go out and slash anyone’s throat–that you know of.

The Zone thanks Emma and CassNJ for the round table interviews–you can read full transcripts of interviews with Johnny and Tim, with composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, with Helena Bonham Carter and with Alan Rickman on the Zone’s News & Views forum. Enjoy! –Part-Time Poet