Lily-Rose Depp reveals which Johnny Depp’s movie scared her the most as a child. As the daughter of the actor who famously portrayed Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and French singer and actor Vanessa Paradis, Depp grew up immersed in culture, art and cinema, splitting her time between the US and France. She would make her acting debut with Kevin Smith’s Tusk before going on to star in everything from Netflix’s The King to HBO’s The Idol.
The 25-year-old actor recently starred opposite Bill Skarsgård in Robert Eggers’ 2024 Nosferatu, a remake of the 1922 classic vampire movie of the same name, alongside Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, and Nicholas Hoult. Her entry into the supernatural horror genre isn’t a surprise, given that her father has worked on several gothic horror fantasy films that share a similar dark appeal, including Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd, and The Corpse Bride. However, one of Johnny Depp’s works scared her more than the rest.
Lily-Rose Depp Was “Traumatized” By Edward Scissorhands
She Was Exposed To Edward Scissorhands Early In Her Life
In 1990, Johnny Depp appeared in Tim Burton’s 1990 gothic romantic fantasy, Edward Scissorhands, where he played the titular half-built human being, Edward, who has a gentle heart, despite having scissors as hands. The film follows the scientist’s death and sees Edward finding a new home at a loving saleswoman Peg’s (Dianne Wiest) house, where he falls in love with Peg’s daughter (Winona Ryder). Despite having a kind heart, Edward’s jarring appearance unavoidably caused a disturbance in town.
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Despite being a cult classic, there are quite a few things about Tim Burton’s 1990 film Edward Scissorhands that don’t make sense three decades later.
Lily-Rose Depp talks to Harper’s Bazaar about being “traumatized” by Edward Scissorhands, a film she was allowed to watch as early as three. The actor clarifies that she wasn’t afraid of Edward’s character design, but was “petrified” by how the townspeople turned against Edward, stating that it’s “a difficult childhood memory” for her, while also explaining that the beloved fantasy drama shaped the way she views Count Orlok in Nosferatu, whom she can’t help having “empathy” toward despite being a monster. Check out what the actor said below:
I was traumatized by it. Not because I thought he was scary, but because everyone was being so mean to him and I got really upset. I remember being petrified by that, which is weird, because I don’t have many memories from when I was that young. It’s a difficult childhood memory. Edward’s the good guy and Nosferatu’s kind of the bad guy, but there’s a part of me that feels a little bit of empathy for Nosferatu. I mean, am I sick for feeling that way?
What This Means For Depp
Edward Scissorhands Helped Her Tap Into Her Role As Nosferatu’s Ellen
Image via Focus Features
Though in Nosferatu, Ellen Hutter calls upon Nosferatu, in real life, it seems that Depp was the one being called to the genre. In the same interview, the actor admits that “she’s always been very interested” in films and roles that explore darker themes like her father, even though they are very different actors. She explains that it’s due to the fact that nothing is “straightforwardly dark.” The complication makes the role “meaty,” which is exactly what makes her character Ellen so fascinating and controversial.
In Eggers’ critically acclaimed vampire remake, Ellen’s desires awaken the ancient vampire, whose pursuit of her brings diseases and death to her small town. Depp previously shed light on Bill Skarsgard’s performance as Count Orlok, saying that Skarsgård “was not only so terrifying“, but the actor was also able to bring “ancient, dead mummified humanity“ into the character, which is what makes Orlok both scary and relatable. While Edward Scissorhands may be a very different tonal beast, considering the heart put into both him and Orlok by their performers, it makes sense why Depp found parallels between them.
Source: Harper’s Bazaar
From director Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands follows the titular character, an artificial human created by an inventor, who has scissor blades instead of fingers. After his creator’s death, Edward is taken in by a normal suburban family and becomes attracted to the family’s teenage daughter, Kim Boggs. Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder star as Edward and Kim.
- Release Date
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December 14, 1990
- Runtime
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105 minutes
- Writers
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Caroline Thompson
- Budget
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$20 million
- Studio(s)
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20th Century
- Distributor(s)
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20th Century