Johnny Depp Creates Debut Self-Portrait in 'Dark' and 'Confusing' time

A self-portrait by actor Johnny Depp is displayed at Castle Fine Art gallery on Thursday, July 20, 2023 in London. (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
A self-portrait by actor Johnny Depp is displayed at Castle Fine Art gallery on Thursday, July 20, 2023 in London. (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
TT
20

Johnny Depp Creates Debut Self-Portrait in 'Dark' and 'Confusing' time

A self-portrait by actor Johnny Depp is displayed at Castle Fine Art gallery on Thursday, July 20, 2023 in London. (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
A self-portrait by actor Johnny Depp is displayed at Castle Fine Art gallery on Thursday, July 20, 2023 in London. (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Johnny Depp has painted the emotions of recent years into a self-portrait and is offering the result for sale as a time-limited edition.
The actor began working on the piece, titled “Five,” around 2021 in the midst of an explosive dispute with his ex-wife, Amber Heard, which played out in courtrooms on both sides of the Atlantic, The Associated Press said.
“I think this is the most personal piece he’s ever done,” said Ian Weatherby-Blythe, managing director of Castle Fine Art, which is handling the sale of “Five.” The gallery also oversaw Depp’s sold-out debut art collection, the series of portraits “Friends & Heroes.”
“He revisited the eyes over and over and over again. And when you look at the piece, you know, it’s a beautiful portrait. But when you look at the eyes there’s something very meaningful behind the eyes, there’s something, you know, quite sad."
“It was created at a time that was, let’s say, a bit dark, a bit confusing,” Depp said in a video released Thursday to promote the sale.
“Essentially, I just wrote ‘Five’ on there because I was just about to enter the fifth year of the madness.”
Priced from £1,950 ($1,950), signed editions of “Five” go on sale at 1600 GMT Thursday for 13 days.
Heard filed for divorce in May 2016, seeking a temporary restraining order against the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star.
In April 2022, Depp began a libel trial he brought against Heard, based on a 2018 Washington Post op-ed piece in which she referred to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” A Virginia jury eventually ruled that Heard had defamed Depp on three counts and awarded him $15 million in damages. In a countersuit, Depp was found guilty of one charge of libel and Heard was awarded $2 million.
A British court had ruled in 2020 that a tabloid article labeling Depp “a wife beater” was “substantially true.” Soon after the ruling in the UK, Hollywood largely cut ties with Depp, jettisoning him from both the “Fantastic Beasts” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchises.
Fashion house Dior, Depp notes, “as much as it was painful ... stuck to their guns,” and “Five” uses as a starting point the photograph that launched his Dior Sauvage campaign, led by creative director Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
A few months ago, Depp went back to the artwork, and after making adjustments, decided to publicly share what he views as an act of creative healing.
Using archival pigment, in the style of his earlier series of portraits, “Five” marks the first time Depp has sought to capture his own image. A smaller artwork, with a lower price tag, “Five” is described as deliberately intimate and shows the actor in a state of emotional exhaustion.
“It’s not the most comfortable thing doing a self-portrait,” Depp said, noting he would sit with a mirror and sketch himself in different lights, times and angles.
“It should just be some expression, spit it out as it gets spit out.”
He also intends to sign “each and every one,” said Weatherby-Blythe. “He’s made that commitment, he wants to give the opportunity to as many people as possible to buy his art and also he wants to try to raise as much money as he can for Mental Health America,” he added. From the proceeds of each sale, $200 is to be donated to the non-profit.
Depp may have won in court, but public opinion remains divided on the actor who was once one of the most bankable stars in movies.
Weatherby-Blythe believes there will be interest from art collectors as well as the stars’ supporters.
“I think Johnny still has many, many fans out there. But I’m also hoping that art buyers will see it as a one-off work of art,” he said, pointing out that the actor has “painted and drawn his entire life, and I think that art connoisseurs will see that. ... And this piece is a very, very special, very personal piece.”



Universal to Open First European Theme Park Near London

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech about the building in the UK of the first Universal theme park and resort in Europe by US media giant Comcast Corp during a visit to Bedford, north of London, on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech about the building in the UK of the first Universal theme park and resort in Europe by US media giant Comcast Corp during a visit to Bedford, north of London, on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

Universal to Open First European Theme Park Near London

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech about the building in the UK of the first Universal theme park and resort in Europe by US media giant Comcast Corp during a visit to Bedford, north of London, on April 9, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech about the building in the UK of the first Universal theme park and resort in Europe by US media giant Comcast Corp during a visit to Bedford, north of London, on April 9, 2025. (AFP)

US media giant Comcast Corp has chosen an area north of London for its first Universal theme park and resort in Europe, pledging to build rides and attractions based on its movie franchises that it hopes will rival Disneyland Paris.

The group, which owns the Jurassic Park and Back to the Future movie franchises and the Harry Potter theme park license, said the park in Bedford would create 20,000 jobs during construction and a further 8,000 across the hospitality and creative industries when it opens in 2031.

It is expected to attract 8.5 million visitors in its first year, a number currently only exceeded in Europe by Disneyland Paris to the east of the French capital.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and finance minister Rachel Reeves joined Comcast bosses to announce the theme park on Wednesday.

"This will drive growth here and across the country," Starmer said.

The Labor government has pledged to boost investment in infrastructure since it was elected last year, and Britain's economy needs fresh momentum after the highest tax-raising budget since 1993 in October dented business confidence.

The government has pledged to speed up planning decisions and the announcement comes after it approved the expansion of Luton Airport, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Universal site, boosting the area's international connectivity.

"This (theme park) is our 'Plan for Change' in action, bringing investment, bringing opportunity, growth, jobs and, of course, joy to Britain," Starmer said.

Universal has five resorts and parks, in the US states of California and Florida as well as in Singapore, Japan and China, offering rides and attractions based on its movie franchises.

Plans for the new site include a park, featuring several themed lands, a 500-room hotel and a retail, dining and entertainment complex.

Comcast President Mike Cavanagh showed Starmer the plan in London on Tuesday, saying he "could not be more excited" to create a Universal theme park and resort in the heart of the United Kingdom.

Comcast bought a 500-acre former brickworks in Bedfordshire, about 55 miles north of London, in 2023 and had been in talks with the government since last year. It already owns Sky, which is Europe's biggest pay-TV business.

The theme park and resort are subject to planning permission, the government said.