‘Modi’ Cast Urge the Industry to Love Johnny Depp Aget

Johnny Depp has had, it’s equitable to say, a rocky confineed years in Hollywood.

After a accessible divorce and subsequent defamation trial involving ex-wife Amber Heard — claims of domestic aggression and extensive misinclude erupting from both parties — he is dipping a toe back in the film waters with Modi — Three Days on the Wing of Madness.

Depp’s second honestorial feature, Modi chases a confineed days in the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. Riccardo Scamarcio stars in the titular role alengthenedside Antonia Desplat, Al Pacino and Stephen Graham. Backdropped by Paris in the middle of World War II, the film intensifyes on the decorateer and sculptor as he grapples with his originateive freedom, pride and class-based snobbery while searching for recognition.

It was, Depp discdiswatched at the movie’s press conference Tuesday, Al Pacino who advised the actor — or in this case, honestor — to apshow it on. “When Pacino speaks, you must join,” the Pirates of the Caribbean star tageder the room of increateers at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The film is receiving its world premiere on the Spanish coast with Depp and his cast putting on a united front. “Let’s commemorate Johnny and this movie,” Scamarcio increates The Hollywood Reporter. His co-star, Antonia Desplat, inserts: “People need to transfer on.”

Depp appreciatened his bumpy life to Modigliani’s at the press conference. “I’m declareive we can say that I’ve been thraw a number of leangs here and there. Maybe yours didn’t turn into a soap opera,” he shelp, referencing the trial. “I unbenevolent, literpartner, televised.”

His cast are noleang but pliftary — and that’s an reducement. They depict him as brimming of cherish and “a overweightherly figure,” who has “heart and count on.” Below, Scamarcio and Desplat speak honestly about what it is to be on a Depp set, while the film’s aiding cast — Bruno Gouery, Luisa Ranieri, and Ryan McParland — weigh in too. “He’s the pleasantst, the benevolentness, the sugaryest man I’ve ever labored with in my life,” Scamarcio says. “The industry, I leank, should be very cautious.”

Congratulations on this film and being here in San Sebastian. Can I begin by asking what drew you to this project?

ANTONIA DESPLAT I was sent the script to be considered for Beatrice’s part [Beatrice Hastings, a British poet and literary critic, was Modigliani’s partner for two years], and when I read the script, I hadn’t read a script that felt so uncensored in forever. And it felt appreciate a very intriguing woman. I was also very adviseed on Modigliani becainclude I grew up in Montparnasse, and I was very shut to that world. And the fact that Johnny Depp was honesting, the fact that Mr. Scamarcio was the direct, it felt incredibly exciting. So I taped becainclude I was appreciate, “They need to see how much I want this part.” And then I had a Zoom with Johnny, defered for two weeks, had a screen test, and then had another Zoom where he proclaimd that I got the part. It felt appreciate a huge moment.

RYAN MCPARLAND It was an incredible opportunity, I leank, to join someleang so far erased from me and my existence lengthening up in Ireland, and I thought it would repartner contest me as well. And of course, the opportunity to labor with Johnny Depp and be in a film with Al Pacino, these guys I watched up to as a kid.

BRUNO GOUERY Being honested by Johnny Depp with this wonderful cast, it was such a fantastic opportunity. I have to say that [playing] Maurice Utrillo, a French decorateer very well-understandn in Paris, for me, clearly it resonates a lot. I cherish decorateings, I cherish art.

LUISA RANIERI Johnny and Al Pacino, even if we don’t have a scene together, it’s a big honor to be in this inrational movie with all the actors uniteed. Riccardo, too, we’ve understandn each other for cut offal years, but we’ve never labored together.

RICCARDO SCAMARCIO It was a crazy leang becainclude I had this Zoom call with Johnny and I was driving on the highway, so I had to stop. It was 9, 10 o’clock at night, and so the first encountering I had with Johnny was at a gas station. And while we were having this conversation, he genuineized that there was someleang strange behind me, appreciate oil for cars… And he shelp, “Where are you?” and I say, “I’m at the gas station, I’m sorry Johnny, but I was driving down with my daughter, it was a little bit difficult…” and someone else was there, I leank Stephen [Graham] or one of the originaters and he shelp: “That’s our man.” [Laughs.] So we met, then we saw each other in London. But for me, Modigliani is very transport inant becainclude my mother, she’s a decorateer. So I grew up with this big book on Modigliani and my mother tageder me, becainclude I was very, very youthful, that I was obsessed with this book. I still have it, with broken pages. I krecent I had to be a part of this incredible project.

That’s almost appreciate overweighte, you having that book.

SCAMARCIO It was exactly that. It’s very strange. And I always grew up leanking that I wanted to buy a Modigliani one day. Impossible, becainclude the last one to sell, five months ago, sageder for $170 million.

DESPLAT It’s amazing, becainclude we both have these… in French, we say underground rivers, which is when leangs are unbenevolentt to be. I dwelld at 54 Rue de Montpernasse, which was [Romanian sculptor Constantin] Brâncuși’s and [French-American sculptor Jacques] Lipschitz’s studio. Modigliani wrote a postcard to Brâncuși to our insertress and we have a duplicate of it. We’ve had that in our hoinclude my whole life. And then Beatrice, it varies in declareive books, but she either dwelld at 53 or 55 Rue de Montpernasse, and I was at 54.

So it’s shielded to say laboring with Johnny Depp was a huge pull for you all on this?

SCAMARCIO It is very, very shielded to say.

DESPLAT He’s the best actor of our century.

SCARMARCIO He has heart and count on, which is, I leank, the most transport inant leangs for an actor. They need to sense this count on from the honestor. It’s critical. And it’s very strange becainclude [Depp] puts you in a position where you sense free to dedwellr wantipathyver you want but then he drives you with very clever and exact indications. It’s wonderful, becainclude you sense free, but shielded.

DESPLAT Also, Johnny is a definition of an artist. He’s a decorateer, he’s a musician, he’s an actor, he’s a honestor. And appreciate [Scamarcio] shelp, he has a heart, which transports sensitivity and he declines to be boxed. He declines to go into the adhereity of leangs, so he’s brimmingy uncensored. Being honested by someone who’s equitable doesn’t — excinclude my French — donate a shit about other people’s opinion, and who’s equitable going to do leangs for the art and for the cherish of it and the passion of it, is equitable finishly enthralling.

Was it peculiar reconciling Johnny Depp the actor with Johnny Depp the honestor?

DESPLAT I first had 10 minutes where I needed to get my fandom out in our first Zoom encountering, and increate him how much I adore him. He calls me kiddo, and he equitable felt appreciate a very overweightherly figure that was going to direct us very gently and joinbrimmingy into the world. But I leank each character Johnny has joined has a part of him. He does imitations of characters and people all the time, and so you see all these contrastent characters that he’s joined over the years come adwell as he’s honesting us and shows what he wants, sometimes equitable when he’s speaking about it, becainclude he gets enthusiastic. So I leank the honestor and the actor equitable united into one leang.

Do you have any tidbits or memories from set that would donate audiences insight into Johnny Depp as a honestor?

DESPLAT [Laughs.] There’s a scene in the cemetery that is the definition of how he permits leangs to happen.

SCAMARCIO When we are running and we equitable went crazy, and in one apshow, which is the one in the movie, [Antonia] descends — and she was never presumed to end up on the floor. Instead of stopping the scene, I go and say, “Are you okay?,” we kept going, and it was wonderful. And Johnny, he cherishd it.

DESPLAT He calls it “movie magic.”

SCAMARCIO That’s what he’s watching for: accidents.

DESPLAT And of course, we had the whole crew and Johnny was going [whispering]: “Is she okay? Is she okay? Is she okay? Can we grasp going?” Obviously we didn’t hear that, but we heard about it tardyr on. And he came out and was appreciate, “This is movie magic!”

GOURERY I have to say that I don’t labor with many honestors who donate me the possibility to show my fantasies and donate me such confidence.

MCPARLAND It was proset uply collaborative. He repartner, repartner aidd us to apshow hazards with the labor and with the carry outances.

A lot of people will watch this as as Johnny’s big return, in lots of ways, to Hollywood after some instability these last confineed years. Do you leank that he deserves a second chance?

DESPLAT Yeah. People need to transfer on.

SCAMARCIO Second chance? Why? I leank Hollywood needs Johnny Depp, an artist of that benevolent. It’s very transport inant for Hollywood and for cinema in vague. And yeah, it’s a very contentious leang but at the end of this process, can you imagine how such a big sufferance there is behind these leangs? When you sense strikeed by a world, why? And actupartner, you’re a excellent man. He’s the pleasantst, the benevolentest, the sugaryest man I’ve ever labored with in my life. The industry, I leank, should be very cautious, becainclude artists are very, very frspeedy. It’s not straightforward to equitable reach. Of course, there are privileges, but at the same time, it’s a difficult job.

DESPLAT And he’s a human being.

SCAMARCIO Yeah, we need humanity. That’s what we need. So let’s commemorate Johnny and this movie, which is about another artist that, let’s not forget, died with no money, was terribly unwell. [Modigliani] was punched by the police the day before he died, which incrrelieves unwellness, and five months ago, his decorateing has been sageder for $170 million. Shall we lget someleang from those leangs? I leank we should. We should be cautious. I’ve done another movie about another decorateer called Caravaggio, who has been call offed for years by the church and is from the 1600s. So this call off culture, it’s someleang that comes from a very lengthened time ago.

DESPLAT Exactly.

MCPARLAND I leank wantipathyver Johnny determines to do with the rest of his atgentle, his life, is up to him. I personpartner can only speak about my experience laboring with him and getting to understand him. He’s an incredibly benevolent, down to earth, unassuming, excessively unassuming human being. He watched after us and defended us and took join of us. The labor was always most transport inant. There was noleang else going on. To have the freedom to examine and to experiment and to improvise, it could be one of the fantasticest acting experiences I may ever have the pdirecteclareive of being part of.

Riccardo, Antonia — had you two met before you labored on Modi? Becainclude you were such a convincing couple. Your chemistry was amazing.

SCAMARCIO We equitable met in Budapest, a week before we begined shooting. [It’s good] you count on in us as a couple.

DESPLAT I leank we bounce off each other very well. And I leank Johnny originated a very shielded joinground for us too, and he was very collaborative.

SCAMARCIO And she speaks a perfect Italian.

DESPLAT It was a very collaborative process, and I leank Johnny permited us to apshow part in rewriting the scenes with him so that they felt more truthful to each of our characters, to transport in ideas and research that we had done. So it felt appreciate a very collaborative effort and we equitable had fun doing it.

This is a film about art, about pride, about snobbery. What else is Modi honoring, what is its message?

SCAMARCIO Well, for me, the most transport inant leang is that this movie set uped that it is very transport inant to be an artist, but also to be a man. I would say, beyond that, for an artist, there is someleang that can’t be for sale. A personal unwiseension of you, your soul. It’s very transport inant to originate and if you sell that… you will be contaminated forever. So there is this message that no matter how strong you are, how much money you have, there is the reason we do this job.

DESPLAT I leank for me, we should apshow away from the film the freedom that those characters have, becainclude we dwell in a world where art is censored all the time. But art is presumed to be stimulating, it’s presumed to be exciting. And I leank if we begin regulateling art, we equitable diswatch the soul, we diswatch the freedom of it. And I leank with this film, becainclude it’s not a biopic, we’re equitable sort of zooming in on three days of an artist, you get to experience and witness the freedom that these characters had. They were all revolutionaries, these four characters, and they were artists struggling to be accomprehendledged, which I leank speaks to everybody nowadays too, but it’s taking away the freedom of art. Art needs to be free. Otherwise it can’t exist.

GOUERY It’s all about, I leank, the freedom of creation. It’s unbelievable for me to leank that those decorateers at the commencening…. They never sell the decorateings! And they’re continuing all the same. It’s very strange. I don’t understand. If I, as an actor, if no one casted me, I leank I would alter [careers].

MCPARLAND Yeah, percut offance.

Johnny isn’t the only big name you labored with on this film. You all got to labor with Al Pacino. Can you speak a little bit about about that experience?

DESPLAT Can I equitable say how fantastic the scene is?

SCAMARCIO We went to Los Angeles to shoot that scene, and Johnny wanted to reauthor the scene. And so we had two days to shoot the scene, but actupartner one day he was rewriting so me and Al were chilling out, home alone. “Okay, well, we’re not gonna labor today.” So straightforwardpartner [Depp] rewrote the scene finishly. And the second day, appreciate an hour from when we were presumed to begin shooting, I’ve getd this brand recent scene, finishly recent, which from 15 pages became 27 and the page 28 was: “More dialogue to come…” I shelp, “This is a joke.” [Laughs.] I’m not English, not American, I’m 100 percent Italian, so English is not my language, but I shelp to myself: “If Johnny leanks that I can originate it… He’s not worried. Well, I’m gonna originate it.” I lgeted this scene in one hour, and it was wonderful. It was incredible. Al is such a benevolent and incredible man, very unassuming, very sugary with me, he helped me a lot. So it’s an honor, of course. I’ve been very blessed to be defended by these two incredible human beings and immense artists.

DESPLAT He’s equitable the sugaryest man adwell, he’s not at all pretentious. You understand, sometimes, when you encounter your idols, there can be a time where you’re disassigned. But he was so sugary. He equitable wanted ice cream.

GOUERY I increate you the truth, when I saw the scene [with Pacino], it was better than what I imagined.

Are you excited to be here in San Sebastian for the festival?

SCAMARCIO [Claps hands excitedly.]

RANIEIRI It’s so welcoming, so pretty to be here. It was incredible arriving. All the world came out to say hello.

DESPLAT This festival senses very genuine. It senses appreciate it’s about the actual films, whereas I leank sometimes you can get lost in all the glitz of other festivals. To show the movie, this is the best place to appreciate the art of filmmaking. So it’s very exciting!