LatestPhotosVideosKardashiansWatch E!Shop
LatestPhotosVideosKardashiansWatch E!Shop

Johnny Depp's Best Roles

33 photos
May 22, 2019 8:45 PM
LINK COPIED!
Pin It
E! Placeholder Image
1/33

A Nightmare on Elm Street

In 1984, Johnny Depp appeared in his first movie and it was a big one. In A Nightmare on Elm Street a group of friends, including Glen Lantz (Depp), are haunted and tormented by a killer in their dreams named Freddy Krueger, who is picking them off one by one!


Pin It
2/33
FOX

21 Jump Street

From 1987 to 1990, Depp took over TV screens as Officer Tom Hanson, a young-looking cop who worked at 21 Jump Street, a special investigation unit known for having their officers go undercover as teens or college students to stop crime.


Pin It
3/33
Universal Pictures

Cry-Baby

In 1990, Depp played everyone's favorite, dreamy bad boy, Cry-Baby. After he falls for good girl Allison (Amy Locane), he must face off against her former flame and prove he's not just a delinquent from the wrong side of the tracks. 


Pin It
4/33
Moviestore Collection/REX Shutterstock

Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands is one of Depp's most iconic films to date and the first of many he did with Tim Burton. In the movie, he plays Edward, an artificial man who was constructed with scissors for hands. He lives alone until one day a suburban woman meets him and brings him into her world. 


Pin It
5/33
Mgm/Kobal/Shutterstock

Benny & Joon

After her brother Benny (Aidan Quinn) can no longer care for her and caretakers keep quitting, Sam (Depp) enters Joon's (Mary Stuart Masterson) life and despite her mental illness and challenges she falls for him, his eccentricities and outrageous lifestyle. 


Pin It
6/33
ZUMA Movie Stills Library

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Following his father's death, Gilbert (Depp) must take care of his family including his mentally-challenged brother Arnie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his obese mother. Despite living in Endora, a place where nothing happens, everything seems to happen to Gilbert including finding love unexpectedly. 


Pin It
7/33
Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock

Ed Wood

This black-and-white film shows the life of the ambitious, but troubled, real-life director Edward D. Wood Jr. (Depp) as he tries to become a success without any real talent.


Pin It
8/33
Moviestore Collection/Shutterstock

Dead Man

After murdering a man, accountant William Blake (Depp) is on the run. He eventually encounters a Native American man named Nobody (Gary Farmer), who helps him prepare for his journey into the spiritual world and see his new life as ruled by the gun.


Pin It
9/33
Mandalay Ent/Baltimore Pics/Kobal/Shutterstock

Donnie Brasco

FBI agent, Donnie Brasco (Depp) goes undercover to infiltrate the mob and after years of working up the ladder he finds himself fitting in better with his mafia life and pushing aside his regular one.


Pin It
10/33
Peter Mountain/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

An oddball journalist (Depp) and his crazy lawyer take a road trip to Las Vegas from Los Angeles and experience a bunch of psychedelic escapades all while searching for the "American Dream."


Pin It
11/33
Clive Coote/Paramount/Mandalay/Kobal/Shutterstock

Sleepy Hollow

The iconic tale of Ichabod Crane (Depp) investigating the decapitations in Sleepy Hollow at the hands of the Headless Horseman comes to life in this 1999 film. 


Pin It
12/33
Moviestore Collection/Shutterstock

Chocolat

When a single mother and daughter move to a small town in France and open a chocolate shop, the locals are skeptical and want to keep their village set in its ways. Little by little the chocolate inspires the people to abandon their old ways and give into desire and temptation. When an Irish gypsy (Depp) arrives in town, Vianne (Juliette Binoche), the chocolate shop owner, gives into her own desires.


Pin It
13/33
Lorey Sebastian/New Line/Avery Pix/Kobal/Shutterstock

Blow

Based on a true story, Blow shows how American George Jung (Depp), along with the Medellin Cartel and Pablo Escobar started the cocaine market in the 1970s in the United States. 


Pin It
14/33
Globe Photos/ZUMAPRESS.com

From Hell

Set in Victorian-era London, From Hell is a thriller about Inspector Frederick Abberline (Depp), a clairvoyant detective, as he investigates the murders of Jack the Ripper.


Pin It
15/33
Disney Enterprises

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

In 2003, Depp took on the role of Captain Jack Sparrow and his life was never the same. In the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, Captain Jack teams up with blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) to save Will's love, the governor's daughter Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) who was kidnapped by Jack's former pirate allies, who are undead and trying to break their curse.


Pin It
16/33
Miramax Films

Finding Neverland

This biographical family film focuses on the story of playwright Sir James Matthew Barrie's (Depp) friendship with a family in 1903 London who inspired him to create Peter Pan.


Pin It
17/33

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Based on Roald Dahl's legendary book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the re-imagined story of a boy named Charlie (Freddie Highmore) who wins a chance to see inside of candy creator Willy Wonka's (Depp) factory and all of the magic that comes with it. This film was done by Burton and was just as trippy and wild as you'd expect.


Pin It
18/33
Disney

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

In 2006, the second Pirates film was released. This time Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) must race to recover the heart of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) in order to keep himself from becoming a slave to Jones forever.


Pin It
19/33
Disney

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

At World's End follows Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), a former enemy of Jack Sparrow (Depp), Will Turner (Bloom) and Elizabeth (Knightley) as they sail to the edge of the map. On their journey they are trying to avoid treachery and betrayal all while searching for Jack ahead of one last battle.


Pin It
20/33
Leah Gallo

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

The musical is every bit as sinister and wild as you remember it thanks to Burton and Depp's collaboration. In the film, Depp plays Benjamin Barker, who after being falsely accused of a crime ends up in jail and his wife and daughter's lives are ruined by the judge to put him behind bars. Once out of prison, Benjamin becomes Sweeney Todd, opens a barber shop in London and seeks revenge through murder on anyone who hurt his family.


Pin It
21/33
Universal Studios

Public Enemies

The biographical action film focuses on the Feds trying to take down American gangsters John Dillinger (Depp), Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham) and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) during their massive crime wave in the 1930s.


Pin It
22/33
Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

Alice in Wonderland

When Alice (Mia Wasikowska) returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, she reunites with old friends like the Mad Hatter (Depp) to try and end the Red Queen's (Helena Bonham Carter) reign of terror. This Burton-led film was followed up by a sequel called, Alice Through the Looking Glass, in which Depp reprised his role.


Pin It
23/33
Columbia Pictures

The Tourist

American tourist Frank (Depp), goes to Italy to mend a broken heart and finds himself falling for Elise (Angelina Jolie), a woman who deliberately crosses his path and ends up making him an accessory to her crimes.


Pin It
24/33
Disney

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

In 2011, another Pirates movie was released. This time, Jack Sparrow (Depp) and Barbossa (Rush) try to find the fountain of youth, only to find out that they aren't the only ones hunting for it.


Previous
1
Next
About UsContact UsSitemapCustomer SupportRSS Feeds

Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and ​celebrity gossip. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows!

Ad ChoicesPrivacy PolicyTerms of Service

© 2025 E! Entertainment Television, LLC A Versant Media Company. All rights reserved.