Johnny Depp has always kept his personal life very private and rarely talks about his children or his relationships. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the actor and celebrity dad of two shares everything from his split with Vanessa Paradis, how his children are handling the break up and more!
Johnny says of his childhood: “I wouldn’t say my youth was the perfect model in terms of raising a kid. It was a relatively violent upbringing. If you did something wrong, you got hit. If you didn’t do something wrong, you got hit. But my parents, they did the best they could with that they knew, and so I figured I’d do the best with what I knew, which was do pretty much the opposite from what you guys did — and I think I’ll be all right. Not to say they were bad parents, because they weren’t. They just didn’t know any different, and it was a very different time. My mother was raised in a shack, in the wilds of Appalachia, where the toilet was an outhouse. She used to say she did the same things that her mom did — and her mom certainly didn’t know any better. With my kids, they’re told 75 times a day that they’re loved. One thing I know is they feel loved and secure and happy and needed and necessary and a part of something.”
On becoming a dad: “It really was as if a veil was lifted, and things became clearer, and I went, ‘Oh, I f—ing get it now! That’s what it’s for! That’s what it’s for, this beautiful little creature that I took part in creating, making.’ I didn’t have a real handle on what life was supposed to mean or be or anything like that. And I still don’t. And I’m not sure that life is supposed to mean anything or be anything at all. But as long as you have the opportunity to breathe, breathe. As long as you have the opportunity to make your kid smile and laugh, and move it forward.”
How his children, Lily-Rose, 14, and Jack, 11, are handling the break up: “They’ve been incredibly understanding, incredibly strong throughout the whole ordeal. And it’s hard on every side. You know, Vanessa’s side, certainly not easy. My side, not easy. The kids are the most complicated. The thing is, kiddies come first. You can’t shield them, because then you’d be lying. So you can at least be honest with your kids, and you say the absolute truth to your child — that was very important to not pussyfoot around.”
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