In choosing ‘Jeanne du Barry,’ which stars Depp as King Louis XV, as its opening film, the Cannes Film Festival courted controversy by claiming to ignore it.
There is a shop on the Rue Meynadier in Cannes called the Pirate’s Candies, and in its doorway stands a full-sized replica of Captain Jack Sparrow.
On Tuesday night, a few blocks away, Cap’n Jack’s original, Johnny Depp, walked the red carpet for opening night of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, which included the premiere of “Jeanne du Barry,” in which he plays French King Louis XV.
In the days leading up to the festival, the idea that Depp would be headlining Cannes caused a considerable amount of shock and outrage. Why, out of all the films in all the world, had festival programmers chosen the one showcasing an actor currently best known for his violent and highly litigious relationship with ex-wife Amber Heard? How would the audience and festival-goers react?
With nothing but cheers and applause, as it turns out.
Last spring, as Depp mumblecored his way through six weeks of agonizingly livestreamed testimony in his suit against Heard, it was difficult to imagine he would soon be headlining the most prestigious film festival in the world.
A year ago, the glory days of “Pirates of the Caribbean” seemed a distant memory for a man considered so controversial that he had been fired from a J.K. Rowling-related project.
Many wondered if this was how his career would end: not with a bang but a description of his nearly severed finger.
Although a Virginia jury decided that Heard had in fact defamed Depp by describing herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse” in an essay for the , many believed that Depp’s victory was another example of privilege tipping the scales of justice, if not a chilling backlash against the #MeToo movement.
All of which seemed a lot of unnecessary baggage to be hauling along the Croisette and up the famous steps to the Palais de Festival.
Yet there he was, nimbly decanting himself from a limo, sleek in a tux and a slicked-back ponytail, enthusiastically signing autographs for members of a crowd giddy with excitement (and possibly dehydration, considering that many had begun assembling under a relentless Riviera sun 10 hours before).
