That’s a brand new picture of Johnny Depp, smiling modestly as he claims the Golden Popcorn Award for Best Performance at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST. The category does not discriminate between male and female actors, so Johnny’s competition included co-star Keira Knightley and a pair of DREAMGIRLS, Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce Knowles, as well as Gerard Butler from 300 and Will Smith from THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS. Johnny received a prolonged standing ovation from a wildly cheering crowd when his name was announced and he stepped in from the wings to walk to the podium, and it was nearly a minute before he could make his first “Thank you” heard over the roar.

“Thank you so much . . . I’m not very good at this kind of thing, you know,” Johnny told the crowd. “I’d just like to say thank you to all you guys–thanks so much for voting. It’s such an amazing group of people to be in the same category with,” Johnny added, acknowledging the other nominees. “I’m deeply touched.”

You can read all about the MTV Movie Awards, which were broadcast live tonight, Sunday June 3rd, on the Zone’s News & Views forum. Many thanks to all the Zoners on the East coast who gave us a play-by-play of the awards show and let us know the instant Johnny won, and a special bouquet to bonnie for sharing the photo of Johnny. To see a larger picture, click here: http://tinyurl.com/yroft2 –Part-Time Poet