Johnny Depp Does Not ‘Have Any Ill Feelings Toward Anyone’ 2 Years After Amber Heard Trial: ‘Why Carry That Baggage?’

Johnny Depp is clarifying his recent statement that his life turned into a “soap opera” during his highly publicized court battle with ex-wife Amber Heard.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at the Rome Film Festival over the weekend to promote his new movie as a director, Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness, Depp, 61, responded to that specific comment, which he made at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain on Sept. 24.

“Honestly, I can sit here this very second and think about all the hit pieces, and how everybody was against me, and yeah yeah yeah he is off the map … endless stuff. I can remember it all,” he said. “Went through it all. Some of it was not the most beautiful time, some of it was hilarious. Some of it was mad.”

Depp has scarcely worked in Hollywood in the last six years amid the lead up to and during his 2022 defamation trial with Heard, 38, who now lives a quiet life in Madrid, Spain, with her 3-year-old daughter, paid Depp $1 million in a settlement to conclude the defamation lawsuit after a jury sided mostly with Depp.

“The thing is, it simply just was, and it simply just is. So, for me, it happened. I learned, man. Everything that we experience, whether you’re given a snow cone or walking your dog, you learn something somewhere along the way,” Depp told THR. “So I don’t have any ill feelings toward anyone. I don’t have this great reserve of hatred, because hatred requires caring. Why carry that baggage?”

Most recently, Depp starred in the 2023 French movie Jeanne du Barry; he also has an upcoming movie in the works with filmmaker Terry Gilliam, in addition to Modi, Depp’s first project as a director since 1997’s The Brave. He’s also stayed busy with other artistic pursuits, including a currently-running exhibition in New York City titled A Bunch of Stuff.

“I had a few bouts with Hollywood over their particular easy way and the fluid three-act structure and all the stuff that is predictable,” the actor added, when THR asked how he feels about Hollywood currently. “And I am sorry, but I had to get in there and whip it around a little bit…”

Depp received a lifetime achievement award at the Rome Film Festival on Saturday, Oct. 26 as he promoted Modi, which features Al Pacino, who produced the movie, Stephen Graham, Antonia Desplat, Bruno Gouery and Luisa Ranieri.

As the actor told THR, Pacino, 84, originally wanted to direct the film in the 1990s and told Depp he wanted him to play the central role while the two made their 1997 thriller Donnie Brasco. “Then it disappeared,” Depp said, until Pacino called him “20-plus years later” to ask Depp to direct it instead.