A Rolling Stone journalist who once conducted a “lost interview” with Pirates of the Caribbean franchise stars Johnny Depp (Captain Jack Sparrow) and Keith Richards (Captain Teague, Sparrow’s father) recently shared details about his “horror show” experience with the two show business eccentrics.
The interview seemingly began innocuously enough, with the duo complimenting one another on their respective performances in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007):
“He’s always been very gracious, very sweet, very nice, welcoming and hospitable,” Depp said of Richards, in his usual honey-voiced way. “What do I like about him? Everything. And getting him to play a part in this trilogy, it’s enormous, a major coup.”
“Oh, it’s been great fun,” said Richards, the subtler of the two in this particular enterprise. “Johnny and I have just slowly gotten to know each other, so it’s not like there’s been some forged bonding. It’s just felt natural, no big deal. He’s a very, very straight-up guy.”
Things seemingly, however, quickly derailed, with Rolling Stones guitarist Richards becoming nearly unglued that the reporter was unaware of his penchant for skull rings, which has spanned over 30 years — upon being questioned about whether or not Richards’s love of the ring style had originated due to Iggy Pop, the following exchange allegedly occurred:
Depp was the first to talk. “He’s the, he’s the originator of the skull rings,” he just about hissed, falling into the words.
“This is the original one,” Richards said, coolly. Then he came forward. “I’ve been wearing it for 30-odd years. You didn’t know that? You didn’t know that Keith Richards was famous for his skull ring?”
Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, but the point is this: When a guy like Richards starts referring to himself in the third person, you can be sure that any ironic intent on the surface is covering up an ugly, purplish ego bruise the size of Mount Vesuvius.
Following a tense moment in which the journalist wondered if he could actually survive being thrown off the seventh-story balcony where the disastrous interview with Mick Jagger’s other half and Tim Burton’s longtime bestie was taking place, he realized “I’d been talking to these two for 14 minutes and 21 seconds. I had 45 minutes and 39 seconds left in my allotted time. What a horror show. And there was no stopping it.”
Eventually, the interview was reassigned, but not before the reporter apparently suffered long-term psychological damage — he quipped (and it’s anyone’s guess if he’s joking or not):
…I went on to suffer psychic repercussions that continue to this day. Nightmares, mostly, that arrive unbidden, usually around dawn, filled with bananas and deadly sins, Richards leering and Depp copying Richards, everything compounding to make me twitch and sigh until noon at least. I’ll never forget it, the three of us sitting there in the dark, drinking drinks, smoking smokes, and exchanging unpleasantries
British Judge Andrew Nicol presided over the original proceedings, and Depp later lost his right to appeal the original ruling in the United Kingdom. The Captain Jack Sparrow actor, for his part, has denied the domestic violence allegations, with even his ex-partners, Vanessa Paradis, and Winona Ryder, speaking out in his defense at various points in time.
42
Credit: Disney
