thu 28/03/2024

Close Up on Film Director Tim Burton | reviews, news & interviews

Close Up on Film Director Tim Burton

Close Up on Film Director Tim Burton

Cinema's Mad Hatter converses

Burton: I don’t have this overwhelming desire to make The Teletubbies versus the Wiggles

When Johnny Depp first met Tim Burton, twenty years ago in a Los Angeles coffee shop, he was struck by the otherworldiness of this "pale, frail-looking, sad-eyed man." While the two men traded fragmentary insights about the raw power of velvet Elvis paintings, the nervous young actor marvelled at his new acquaintance’s wide, glaring eyes, his uncontrollable hands, his scarecrow hair. "A comb with legs would have outrun Jesse Owen, given one look at this guy’s locks," recalled Depp later, in his foreword for Faber's excellent collection of interviews with the director. A surreal metaphor worthy of Burton himself.

When Johnny Depp first met Tim Burton, twenty years ago in a Los Angeles coffee shop, he was struck by the otherworldiness of this "pale, frail-looking, sad-eyed man." While the two men traded fragmentary insights about the raw power of velvet Elvis paintings, the nervous young actor marvelled at his new acquaintance’s wide, glaring eyes, his uncontrollable hands, his scarecrow hair. "A comb with legs would have outrun Jesse Owen, given one look at this guy’s locks," recalled Depp later, in his foreword for Faber's excellent collection of interviews with the director. A surreal metaphor worthy of Burton himself.

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Hey if Tim would like a coffee with me maybe he will discover me as an actress....

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