Johnny Depp has never been “cool.” by jon mixon quora
While he may be creepy (which can be assumed by the disintegration of his marriage to Amber Heard within the last year), he has ALWAYS been a calculating and ruthless character who would do anything that he could to get what he wanted in life and especially Hollywood. That’s the antithesis of “cool” if you ask me.
Let’s start at the beginning: At one time Johnny Depp was friends with an actor name Jackie Earle Haley. One day Depp tagged along to an audition that Haley was going to and Depp himself got the part (a small role in the 1984 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street). Given the fact that Depp later leveraged this into one of Hollywood’s most successful careers while Haley has struggled for work in the interim (apparently Depp has so little loyalty towards friends he never suggested Haley for a role in any of his films) it’s clear that Depp probably intended to try out for the role himself rather going along to support a friend.
Depp has also owned multiple businesses in Hollywood including the infamous Viper Room where River Phoenix OD’ed outside on the sidewalk. He was clearly a wealthy man well before his penchant for picking roles in films that gut the classic from they derive their narratives became his coin in trade. Coupled with his oddly bisexual Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean and his recent turn as Tonto in the massive Lone Ranger flop, Depp has now become an A-list player who can survive numerous flops (Transcendence, The Lone Ranger, Mordecai, etc) as his bankability in other projects has already been proven.
He’s neither cool, nor creepy. He’s simply a hardnosed businessman who is choosing to disguise himself as a slightly deranged actor to cover his true nature. Since most people are unaware of how successful that he’s been in so many other ventures besides his film roles is a testament to the fact that his choice of disguise is working very well for him.
UPDATE: When I wrote this answer in 2017, I had no idea how much Johnny Depp was spending on his personal habits.
Despite earning at least $650 million USD (Yes…that’s the number that he owns up to. It may be more) he is now in serious financial trouble due to profligate spending, possible embezzlement by his management group and the failure of his recent marriage to actress Amber heard with whom he did not have a pre-nuptial agreement. Depp even owes the Internal Revenue Service $7 million USD in unpaid taxes and interest.