Johnny Depp is many things, an exceptional actor, an amazing human, and a talented musician. Over the course of his long career, the actor has played some very debatable, eccentric, and unique roles. But his eccentricism did not start or stem from his film career, rather the actor believed he had always been a bit weird.
In the book The Secret World of Johnny Depp, the actor got candid about a lot of things in his life, including his Cherokee heritage to whom he looked up to as a child. While talking about his icons growing up, the actor revealed that there is one Hollywood Legend he did not like. And that one legend is nobody else but John Wayne.
Johnny Depp Did Not Like John Wayne Growing Up
Johnny Depp is a proud Cherokee descendant. Even though his family was a mix of German-Irish ancestry, they were largely Cherokee by heritage, and it is a fact that the actor is often embraced and celebrated.
Even as a kid and while playing, his ancestry was a matter of great importance to him. In the book The Secret World of Johnny Depp, the Pirates of the Caribbean star talked about how he was always fierce and weird and had a lot of unusual icons he looked up to as a kid.
“I was a weird kid. A kind of weed-head. I wanted to be Bruce Lee. I wanted to be on a SWAT team. And when I was five, I think, I wanted to be Daniel Boone.”
However he wasn’t swayed by every actor, for instance, John Wayne was an actor he had a particular dislike for.
“I know this sounds kind of anti-American, but I never could stand him. He seemed like such a rightwing, radical sort of guy.”
While he maintained that he did not like Wayne because of what he thought would be radical views, others reckon it might have been because of the characters Wayne played. Wayne’s characters during his early career were allegedly often at odds with Native Americans and even depicted harmful stereotypes.
Johnny Depp Paid Salute To Native Americans Through His Character
Johnny Depp starred in the movie The Lone Ranger and played the role of a native Indian. while the role received mixed reviews, Depp himself stated that he loved the character and wanted to salute Native Americans through the role in an interview with MTV News (via Telegraph).
“I like the character of Tonto… I like the idea of having the opportunity to make fun of the idea of the Indian as a sidekick — which has always been [the case] throughout the history of Hollywood, the Native American has always been a second-class, third-class, fourth-class citizen, and I don’t see Tonto that way at all. So it’s an opportunity for me to salute Native Americans.”
While certain people did criticize him for his views, the actor remains as proud as ever of his Cherokee heritage.
The Lone Ranger can be rented on YouTube.
