Johnny Depp Acts Like A Chameleon in 'Rango'
ET |
Johnny Depp strolls into town as the quirky chameleon 'Rango' in his new, western-themed CGI-animated comedy, and we're behind the scenes to reveal the unique way the actors all worked together for the film!
"Instead of motion capture, it's kind of emotion capture, using the actors as a reference for the emotionally animated character," explains Johnny.
Unlike most animated films -- in which the actor's performance is delivered before a microphone in a glass booth, usually not interacting with other actors -- the performances in 'Rango' were captured with the actors working together on a soundstage.
"You raise your game because you're working with other people," says co-star Bill Nighy. "It's more of a natural acting experience."
"I think it just gives a bunch of grownups an opportunity to be silly," says Johnny.
In 'Rango,' directed by 'Pirates of the Caribbean' trilogy helmer Gore Verbinski, Johnny plays the title character, a lonely chameleon whose journey takes him from the solitude of a terrarium to the remote town of DIRT in the Mojave desert. A lizard/thespian in search of an identity, Rango has always wanted to play the hero, so the townsfolk make him the sheriff. But faced with the menacing gunslinger Rattlesnake Jake (Nighy) and a conspiracy behind the town's missing water, can Rango survive to become the legend he was destined to be?
"Rango is a lizard attempting to adapt to his surroundings," explains Johnny. "He's trying to figure out what he's supposed to be, like most of us in life. It's certainly like nothing I've ever done before, or any of us have ever done before."
Also featuring the vocal talents of Isla Fisher, Timothy Olyphant, Abigail Breslin, Alfred Molina, Ned Beatty and Ray Winstone, 'Rango' rides into theaters March 4, 2011.
