Jack Sparrow was one of the public figures to introduce an award at the Hollywood Film Festival… No, that is the character behind the actor Johnny Depp, who was the one to deliver the speech. Was it truly him, was he reminding the public of his widely acclaimed Captain Jack Sparrow, was he just acting, acting nervous or quite drunk? This is the question which rests on everybody’s lips or twitter commentaries.
Friday night, 14 November 2014, was a milestone in the existence of the Hollywood Film Awards, which reached the age of eighteen. This year’s ceremony was available to watch for any film fan, as it was aired for the very first time on CBS. Oddly enough, the moment which caught the most public and media attention was not the premiered actors’ interviews, backstage commentaries or red carpet entrances, but the dizzily delivered speech of actor Johnny Depp, moment which caused an immediate stir among viewers (as is made obvious by twitters comments).
Johnny Depp’s mission at the Hollywood Film Festival ceremony was to present the Hollywood Documentary Award, which went to Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, directed by Mike Myers and Beth Aala and starring Shep Gordon himself, Alice Cooper, Sylvester Stallone or Michael Douglas.
Depp wore a fine cut black costume assorted with a navy-blue shirt. Because he could not just appear as a ‘’dressed-accordingly’’ actor with a matching tie, the nonconformist chose a set of papery shawls: a grey one and a red one. He also wore a black kerchief attached to his breeches and visible only partially, as his coat was covering it. As a final touch, he wore a pair of smoky-lens with black thick-framed glasses.
A rock-n-roll touch to a fancy costume at a celebratory night was not the only aspect of Johnny Depp which distinguished him from the crowd of actors. His moment on stage was a quite shabby one, with words being mumbled rather than uttered, which gave the entire speech a Jack Sparrow feeling.
As he walked on stage, he passed his fingers through his hair and waved at fellow actors in the audience. His reaching the microphone was accompanied by an unsteady posture, which gave the impression that he was severely drunk, but was he really, or was he just acting? “That’s the weirdest microphone I’ve seen in my life” was the opening line of his speech (which is difficult to categorize as such). Almost as an excuse, he continued: “I’m not very good at this kind of thing”.
After a series of grunts and curse words (which were cut by the CBS), the actor managed to focus for a moment or two, as he introduced his tribute: “For decades, Shep Gordon has been one of the most beloved and respected talent managers in the music industry. He is also curently the star of the documentary Supermensch – because he is a mensch – and I have been very, very, er … lucky to have him in my life.’’
Until now, Johnny Depp’s arrival and speech delivery at the Hollywood Film Awards has been greeted in many ways: some condemn the actor for his mumbling, others believe he was truly ‘’hammered’’, whereas a third party considers everything to be a consequence of stage-fright. I guess most of the fans are now waiting for his reply to shed some light over the controversial matter.