Acclaimed Serbian director Emir Kusturica has cast Johnny Depp in the role of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa in his film, Seven Friends of Pancho Villa and the Woman with Six Fingers; the female lead will be Salma Hayek. Kusturica talked about his film in an exclusive interview with Simonida Milojkovic of Blic Online. The director had just returned from a visit to the Depp home in France, where he was a guest of Johnny and Vanessa Paradis. “Johnny and I have been friends for a long time. We were sitting in his house, talking for a long time, refreshing our memories,” Kusturica said. “When I showed him the script written by Gordan Mihic, Johnny said he wanted the role without even reading it.”

Emir Kusturica previously directed Johnny Depp in the award-winning Arizona Dream, early in JD’s career. When Milojkovic asked what it would cost to hire JD to play Pancho Villa, Kusturica replied, “He is the king of Hollywood. He is currently the most expensive actor. The question ‘how much does it cost’ is such a typical question among Serbian people. He acts for 20 million dollars, but he also acts for one million,” the director explained. “He built his career working with directors he likes, having faith in film as art. Pirates of the Caribbean came later.”

Filming of Seven Friends of Pancho Villa and the Woman with Six Fingers was originally planned for this autumn, but now will be pushed back to late 2010 or 2011 because of JD’s other film commitments. The Zone thanks Emma for sharing the article; you can read more on the News & Views forum. –Part-Time Poet