"I did meet some very heavy underworld figures through this project," says Depp, "and the thing is, I liked them very much, along with some very heavy upper echelon FBI guys who I could also identify with. They happened to be at cross-purposes, enemies. But they do have a lot in common. Growing up, we’ve all been taught the good/bad guy mentality. But it all boils down in the end to the same game – survival."

Depp also spent a lot of time with the real Donnie Brasco, Joe Pistone. "He’s got an interesting rhythm to his speech. I did my best to get that. I put great pressure on myself to make it … right for the guy. He lived it. I was just pretending."

"He brought a sensitivity to the part," adds Pistone. "That’s a side of me that a lot of people don’t see. It was amazing – a lot of times during the shoot, I’d close my eyes and say, ‘That’s me talking!’ It was eerie."

Of the character’s double life, Depp says, "It’s a man doing a job, putting food on the table for his wife and his children. He’s given a job, he has to do it, that’s all." Still, he can’t help adding, "If I were in that situation, I think probably I would have been killed, because of a sense of loyalty."

The Brave
Year of Release: 1997
Co-Starring: Marlon Brando, Frederic Forrest, Clarence Williams III
Written By: Paul McCudden, Johnny Depp and D.P. Depp, based upon the Gregory McDonald novel
Directed By: Johnny Depp
Johnny Plays: Raphael
Johnny Says: "I was bashed around, and brutalized, and savagely penetrated. So basically, what I’ve been doing with The Brave is, I’m sitting on it until the smoke clears. And then I’ll release it."

Production Notes: This is one of those legendary "unseen" films, never released in the U.S. (though it is available on DVD overseas). Depp’s sole feature film directing effort tells the story of a Native American man (Depp), recently released from Prison, who’s offered a chance to star as the victim in a snuff film in return for $50,000, which would help his poverty-stricken family. It doesn’t have the happiest of storylines (for the uninitiated, a snuff film is one where a person is actually killed before the camera), although Depp remains proud of it.

"It’s an interesting situation and there are a lot of parallels to the atrocities that were committed against Native Americans a century ago," he continues. "Going into a snuff movie is like going into battle for this guy because of his upbringing. He doesn’t have a real education, he’d done a couple of years in prison, he can’t get a job because of that, and as a Native American and Mexican, he’s been exposed to the kind of racism that really does exist in this country. He wants to provide for his family, but he can’t, so it’s a really extreme situation and a very heavy subject to deal with."

Although the film got a standing ovation when it was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, American critics almost uniformly loathed it, leaving a bitter taste in Depp’s mouth – and his refusal to release it here. "I was welcomed into the fold, I was accepted as a filmmaker and my film was applauded. And then the next morning, all these heinous quotes came out," he recalls. "’Commercial flop,’ it doesn’t mean anything to me. A big success means only that someone, somewhere, is going to pocket some dough. And that’s not the reason why I did the movie. I didn’t do it to please anyone, apart from my actors and myself."

Blow
Year Of Release: 2001
Co-Starring: Penelope Cruz, Rachel Griffiths, Ray Liotta, Paul Reubens, Ethan Suplee, Emma Roberts
Written By: David McKenna and Nick Cassavates, based upon the book by Bruce Porter
Directed By: Ted Demma
Johnny Plays: George Jung
Johnny Says: "He (George Jung) made between $300-600 million. And he got busted and now the money’s gone."
Production Notes: This is another true-life tale, this time telling the story of George Jung, who at a young age vows to never have to struggle to make ends meet like his parents do. Moving to California, he begins selling pot; after a sting in prison, he quickly becomes instrumental in establishing the exploding U.S. market for cocaine in which he claimed that he handled about 85% of the supply in the 1970s. However, the high life ultimately costs too much – both literally and figuratively – with Jung ending up back in prison.

Depp spent two intense days with the real George Jung; currently serving time until 2014, and he and Blow director Ted Demme (who ironically died of an accidental cocaine-induced heart attack in 2002) both spoke to the FBI on Jung’s behalf. "There were a lot of clanging metal doors, it was really uncomfortable," Depp recalls of the prison visit. "You have to empty your pockets and go through metal detectors and get checked out. But Jung was a very charming and smart guy; he’s doing his time. I thought, ‘Yeah, he did a lot of horrible things,’ but in a way, I saw him as a victim of his upbringing – as we all are."

Depp continues to hope that people who see Blow take its message to heart. "We’ve all gone through the whole thing of thinking that drugs are just party time," he says. "You can sort of live that lie that it is recreational, but it’s not. We’re trying to hide from something, trying to mask something, trying to numb ourselves from something. Really, getting loaded to that extent is just postponing the inevitable, which is you are going to have to face the demon someday."