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Alice in Wonderland Press Conference - Johnny Depp, 'The Mad Hatter'

You seem to be going through the entire canon of 19th century fantasy literature, with films like Sleepy Hollow, Finding Neverland and now Alice in Wonderland. What is the attraction to that era’s literature for you, as an artist and as an actor?
Johnny Depp: "I’m hoping to do The Hashish-Eater next. I just adore it. From certainly J.M.

Barrie and the wonderful characters he created, Lewis Carroll, even French literature, like Baudelaire or over in the States, Poe, you open those books, you open The Flowers of Evil and begin to read... If it were written today, you’d be absolutely stupefied by the work. It’s this incredible period where the work is timeless, ageless. So yeah, I just love all those guys. It’s my deep passion in those great 19th century writers."

When did Alice in Wonderland first enter your life and how did it influence you?

Johnny Depp: "[...]It’s funny what [producer Richard Zanuck said about even though you can’t quite place when the book or the story came into your life, and I do vaguely remember roughly five years old reading versions of Alice in Wonderland, but the thing is the characters. You always know the characters. Everyone knows the characters and they’re very well-defined characters, which I always thought was fascinating. Most people who haven’t read the book definitely know the characters and reference them."

"Ironically, it was only maybe a year prior to Tim calling I had re-read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and what I took away from it was these very strange, little cryptic nuggets that he’d thrown in there. I was really intrigued by them, became fascinated by them because they were asking questions that couldn’t be answered almost, or were making statements that you couldn’t quite understand. Like, 'I’m investigating things that begin with the letter M.' That took me through a whole stratosphere of possibilities, and doing a little research and discovered that the M is mercury. And then, 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' Those things just became so important to the character. You realize that the more you read it, if I read the book again today, I’d find 100 other things that I missed last time. It’s a constantly changing book."

What was it that you liked about The Tourist with Angelina Jolie that made you want to sign on?

Johnny Depp: "I liked the French film a lot. My friend played the part in that and I liked it and thought it might be interesting to explore this character. You never know what’s going to happen. I suspect there may be a few paparazzis in Venice."

With no more Keira Knightley or Orlando Bloom in Pirates #4, will there be more Jack Sparrow?

Johnny Depp: "Yeah, there is no Keira or Orlando in there. I don’t know. I don’t think we’d ever throw too much Jack Sparrow in there. There will be just a little bit of everybody."

You were wavering on doing another Pirates film after Dick Cook left. Have you regained your confidence? What reassured you?

?Johnny Depp: "One thing that I found very reassuring was a very good conversation with Dick Cook, who is someone I admire greatly. That helped a lot. Also, knowing that we’re coming at it from a different angle, at this point. Rob Marshall has a totally new take. It’s a new story."

?What did Dick Cook say after he left?

Johnny Depp: "He was a perfect gentleman about the entire thing."

How is Dark Shadows coming along?

Johnny Depp: "It’s coming along. It’s going well."

Do you definitely see Dark Shadows going this year, or is it still on the fence?

?Johnny Depp: "I see it going this year. I hope it does. I do, yeah."

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Alice in Wonderland hits theaters on March 5, 2010.

More on Alice in Wonderland: Director Tim Burton / Mia Wasikowska / Anne Hathaway / Helena Bonham Carter