Johnny Depp surprised fans of Funny Or Die when he appeared in one of their videos recently as Donald Trump, a pretty fair stretch from the characters he usually portrays. But, as director Jeremy Konner says, he had to go to some dark depths to pull it off, so Depp was actually the perfect choice.
The faux biopic, The Art Of The Deal, was all about finding and tapping into Trump’s ability to be a bratty bully, according to Johnny Depp.
“I approached Donald Trump as what you kind of see in him when you really watch him. There’s a pretense. There’s something created about him in the sense of bullydom. But what he is, I believe, is a brat,” Depp said.
Trump has been making waves since day one of his campaign for the presidency with his views on immigrants, women, and America in general, prompting protesters to show up at his rallies. Violence has erupted more than once, and many are worried about the potential for more acts of violence as the campaign wears on.
“He’s Depp, so when he comes into a role, he fully embodies it. He brought a darkness that I don’t think we would have gotten if Adam Sandler had played him. There was some real, meaty, dark depths in there,” director Jeremy Konner told Entertainment Weekly. “There was a little bit of Whitey Bulger sticking out at points, a little bit of Hunter S. Thompson sticking out at times. At the very end, when he had to talk like a kid and they switch places, he went full Ed Wood. It was a potpourri of Depp.”
Depp reportedly used his own hair and makeup team to get him Trumped up, and the entire process–including prosthetics for his face–took two to four hours to complete.