Why Johnny Depp fears dancing–a new interview with EXTRA

Extra conducted a lengthy (and quite marvelous) interview with Johnny Depp during the press junket for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. But one segment that caught Johnny by surprise was when the interviewer said, “I learned today, from your director, Rob Marshall, that you are one heckuva dancer.” High praise from an award-winning choreographer and the director of Chicago. “You know,” Johnny responded, “he just says that to try to make me feel good.”

EXTRA: He said that you were going to say that he was just giving you a compliment. But he said that you really are a good dancer.

JOHNNY DEPP: I find that really . . . right up next to impossible to believe. Because I fear dancing.

EXTRA: You fear it?

JOHNNY DEPP: I actually fear it.

EXTRA: Why?

JOHNNY DEPP: Because, you know, it’s one of those things . . . I can appreciate it from a distance, and the expression of it, and all that, and the form . . . but I fear it because it’s just so odd, the idea of it. For me. Even when I was a little kid, going to school dances and stuff like that, never did I dance. Never. Never.

EXTRA: Not once?

JOHNNY DEPP: No. Couldn’t do it.

EXTRA: But you dance in this film. With Penelope [Cruz, who plays Angelica]. A little dance.

JOHNNY DEPP: Yeah . . . but I was sort of forced to. And also, it was Penelope, so we had a good laugh. And Rob and John were terrific in terms of the choreography, because at the very least it was a sort of drunken dance.

We’ll be watching for that dance in On Stranger Tides! The Zone thanks Emma for sharing the video interview; you can read much more about On Stranger Tides on the Zone’s News & Views forum. The full interview is available on the Extra website HERE. To see a larger version of the photo of Johnny, CLICK HERE.