Johnny Depp's Rock 'n' Roll Dillinger

Johnny Depp and Christian Bale face off in the true-crime drama 'Public Enemies,' in theaters July 1, and ET has an exclusive first look behind the scenes! Johnny plays gangster John Dillinger in the movie, but would he rob a bank in real life?

"I'd rob a bank with any of those guys if they wanted to. Tomorrow," Johnny jests about the 'Public Enemies' crew.

The era is the early 1930s, and Dillinger has become the first-ever public enemy No. 1 for robbing banks across the heartland.

"On some level there was a sort of a Robin Hood in John Dillinger and he used that," says Johnny. "Dillinger was extremely savvy for a guy who basically came up from nowhere. He knew that his love for the people and the people's love for him would work in his favor."

The FBI was hot on Dillinger's tail, and agent Melvin Purvis, played by Christian, must take him down.

"It's cops and robbers in essence," says Christian. "That was what was so entertaining about that era, of why it continues to be so fascinating -- the notion of what people could get away with at that time."

Christian adds that a large number of downtrodden people loved Dillinger because of "the extreme feeling of us and them, the haves and have-nots, the fat cats, the banks -- so many people were resentful and had had their lives ruined that hearing about a man who was actually taking it back for himself, they couldn't help but idolize him."

Of course Johnny, the man who turned an ordinary pirate into an cinematic icon based on Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, has a unique take on Dillinger: "He didn't see himself as a criminal in a bad way; he went out there as a rock 'n' roll star. He spoke to [the people] and owned them. He was very, very charismatic. Every time he spoke, he made [Herbert] Hoover and his boys look like chimps."

Stay tuned to ET for more with 'Public Enemies'!

Posted June 18, 2009 2:06:00 AM
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