Director Maïwenn did not intend to say that actor Johnny Depp ‘scared’ her crew on the set of their film Jeanne du Barry. In a new interview with Variety, the director said that she was trying to refer to the actor's ‘charisma’ and ‘star status’ but her words were taken out of context in the previous publication. She now called Johnny ‘one of the greatest’ actors and compared him to Marlon Brando.

What Maïwenn said

In the new interview, the director said: “I want to be very clear: Johnny Depp is a huge actor. One of the greatest. He reminded me a lot of Brando – his genius and sufferings, his generosity and paradoxes. Even though we argued several times on set, he’s someone I totally respect and admire, and it’s important for me to correct my own narrative because I feel really betrayed by this interview with Charlotte O’Sullivan.”

‘I should have used the word…’

She continued her previous comments on how the crew was ‘scared’ of him on set and added, “When I made a remark about Johnny being 'scary,' I was talking about his charisma, his notoriety, his star status, etc. and was shocked when I discovered that the newspaper had headlined that ‘The crew was afraid of [Johnny Depp]’ because written like that, and without its context and subtleties, it absolutely no longer means the same thing. The journalist did not want to grasp the subtlety of my words. I would like to make things very clear: Johnny is ‘scary’ in the sense that his charisma and his status as ‘king’ is impressive. I should have used the word ‘impressive’ if I had known Charlotte O’Sullivan would use my words in such a malicious way.”

Johnny plays French king Louis XV in the drama Jeanne du Barry, which first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as the opening night film. After the world premiere, the actor received a 7-minute standing ovation and even teared up as the crowd applauded him. It is his first film after his high-profile trial last year with his ex-wife Amber Heard. The film releases in US theatres on May 2.

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