In an interview with The Independent, Maïwenn returned to the filming of her film “Jeanne du Barry”, released in May 2023. She plays the main role (that of Jeanne du Barry), alongside Johnny Depp, who plays the of King Louis XV. She had chosen the American star when she was embroiled in her lawsuit with her ex-partner Amber Heard, and despite the controversies aroused by this choice, Maïwenn had not given up on hiring Johnny Depp for her film.
She confided at the time that the American actor was “a star, a king” and that the filming had been “at times tumultuous”, but had almost stopped there. A year later, the director revealed a little more about the filming. Maïwenn, for example, explained to The Independent that Johnny Depp often wanted to rewrite the script because he judged that what was said was “not what happened” in reality. “One day he came with a new version of the script and I wasn’t satisfied. It didn’t work… So I shot it without making the changes he wanted… which he took like an insult,” says the director.
Johnny Depp and fame: “It’s crazy to expect someone who’s been through this kind of situation to be remotely normal”
She admitted to cutting some dialogue during editing because Johnny Depp didn’t always have a good accent. And he didn’t work hard enough, according to her: “There was no time for rehearsals. I asked for time but, for one reason or another, Johnny was not available… He had a coach, but he couldn’t work with her beforehand.”
Finally, Maïwenn confided that it was “difficult to film with him”. “I have to be honest… The whole team was scared because he has a different sense of humor and we didn’t know if he was going to be on time, or if he was going to agree to say his lines…I mean even though he was on set on time, the crew was afraid of him,” she added. This does not take away from the fact that she finds Johnny Depp to be “a huge genius”, “but he is in another world. I cannot communicate with him”.
