Johnny Depp has confirmed that he does use an earpiece when acting on set.
The Hollywood actor is currently in a legal battle with his ex-managers, Joel and Robert Mandel of The Management Group (TMG), who he has accused of mishandling his finances and causing him to rack up more than $40 million (£30 million) in debt. The Mandel brothers have responded with a countersuit, with one allegation made in a lawsuit filed in May 2017 alleging that Depp paid hundreds of dollars to employ a sound engineer to feed him his lines through an earpiece so he doesn't have to memorise scripts.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star has now explained that he does sometimes use an earpiece to help him act "with just his eyes".
"I've got bagpipes, a baby crying and bombs going off," the 55-year-old said in a wide-ranging interview with Rolling Stone magazine. "It creates a truth. Some of my biggest heroes were in silent film. It had to be behind the eyes. And my feeling is, that if there's no truth behind the eyes, doesn't matter what the f**king words are."
Rumours regarding Depp's use of earpieces have swirled for a long time, with actress Kirsten Dunst claiming in a 2008 chat with Vulture that he liked to have music playing through earbuds when he acts.
In the Rolling Stone discussion, Depp also touched upon a number of personal topics, including how he became depressed in the face of his crumbling financial situation and divorce from Amber Heard, which was finalised in 2017.
Looking to the future, he divulged that he is keen to adapt a French book about a man in his forties who loses his wife and checks into a rest home, and would like to make a remake of 1997 blockbuster Titanic, filmed entirely in a bathtub.
"That would be great, but Hollywood never takes risks anymore," he sighed.
