Hollywood actor Johnny Depp was reunited with filmmaker Terry Gilliam for the UK premiere of his first feature film since the conclusion of his defamation case against former partner Amber Heard.
Historical drama Jeanne Du Barry, in which Depp stars as King Louis XV, received a seven-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023.
The film follows the life of Jeanne, played by French actress Maiwenn, a working-class woman who uses her intelligence and allure to climb the social hierarchy, eventually landing on the radar of France's King Louis XV.
The project, which was also co-written and directed by Maiwenn, is Depp’s first major onscreen appearance since the defamation case.
Speaking on stage at the premiere Depp told the audience he was surprised when he was approached for the role.
He said: "Instantly what happens in your brain is that you go back to eastern Kentucky … you realise that you come from the 'ombelico', ‘nombril’, the belly button of nowhere and you’re playing the king of France," according to Hollywood trade publication Deadline.
"It made no sense to me, I tried to talk her out of it. She wasn’t hearing it, and she had great courage to take me into her cast."
The feature film also reunites Oscar-nominated actor with director Terry Gilliam, who directed Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (1998), which starred Depp as main character Raoul Duke.
Gilliam, who is known for being a part of the original Monty Python crew, also directed Depp in his 2009 film The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus.
The Pirates Of The Caribbean actor can be seen greeting and hugging Gilliam in a video. In the clip (which you can watch above) Gilliam jokingly chastises Depp for being late.
Jeanne Du Barry is Depp's first major onscreen appearance since his high-profile defamation case with his ex-wife Heard.
Depp sued his former partner over a 2018 article she wrote for The Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser. Depp was awarded 10.3 million dollars in damages following the high-profile defamation.
The US case came after Depp's drawn-out UK libel claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN) - the owner of The Sun - over allegations that he was violent and abusive towards his ex-wife.
After a 16-day trial the judge ruled the content of the article was proven to be "substantially true".
Source: Press Association
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