Johnny Depp has been busy promoting the release of his new film The Rum Diaries, but conversation has turned to his role as Barnabas Collins in the Dark Shadows movie. Speaking to Larry King on a CNN special this weekend, he spoke about once again about his childhood fascination with the original series:
"I had watched it as a kid, you know. Religiously. I remember sprinting home from school to see it. Didn't want to miss, like, a minute of it. Ironically, you know, [director] Tim [Burton] had gone through the same experience. We were doing Sweeney Todd a couple of years ago... One day we're just sitting there talking, and I said, 'You know, we should do a vampire movie sometime. Let's do a vampire movie.' I went, oh, Dark Shadows, man... And then one thing led to another."
In an interview with MTV's Movie Blog, he discussed the inspiration for Barnabas' new look: "Over the years, these vampire movies have come out... vampire TV shows and stuff like that, and you go, 'Well, nobody looks like a vampire, man. What happened?'" The new Barnabas promises to be a thoroughly traditional vampire. "I adored Dracula, still do... from Bela Lugosi to Christopher Lee. It was an opportunity to sort of go into what really doesn't exist [on-screen] so much any more, which is classic monster makeup and a classic monster character. So that was really the inspiration Tim and I talked about."
2 comments:
Watching Larry King Spec right now, I almost fell out of my chair when johnny depp said Dark Shadows. I was addicted before I was 10
Never really personally saw Dracula as adorable, LOL, but certainly very engaging and creepy in a Svengali sort of way. Barnabas was far more elegant and sophisticated. His magnetism was tempered by his conflicted conscience which made him the beast that evolved into a protagonist. Therein lies the key to his ultimate charm, the hope in each person for redemption, no matter what horrible thing they've done....
But Barnabas looked pretty much like the normal man, a bit paler and more gaunt, except when he was very hungry or ready to bite. That's when he really looked like a classic vampire. Wiiiiillllllllieeee...
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