Forgoing Hollywood glamour, Johnny Depp showed up at the UK premiere of his latest film Blow on Tuesday night in a straw hat, collarless shirt, green tweed waistcoat and beat-up old workman’s boots.
“He’s wearing the same bleeding clothes as when he appeared on The Fast Show – the dirty old tramp,” shouted comic and TV presenter Paul Whitehouse at the Hollywood heart-throb. “I’d cut his hair, wash him and then present him to the ladies.”
Paul, on hand to support his pal Johnny who had a cameo on The Fast Show Christmas special, mingled with celebrities including Jemima Khan, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and “It” girl Lady Victoria Hervey, who easily made up for Depp’s dress-down style.
Yet despite Johnny’s unkempt exterior, director Ted Demme affirmed the star’s infamous sex appeal: “When I said ‘Cut’, I could hear a collective sigh – and it was the eight women stood behind me.”
But the Chocolat star isn’t all cheekbones. “You get probably one chance in a lifetime to work with an actor as talented as Johnny,” says Ted. “He’s a film maker, not just an actor.”
Blow, based on drug trafficker George Jung’s life, opened Stateside in April and has taken in a respectable £31 million at the box office. The film co-stars Spanish beauty Penelope Cruz and opens throughout the UK on Friday.