LOS ANGELES -- Johnny Depp may have had the "Winona Forever" tattoo on his arm altered to read "Wino Forever," but that doesn't mean the actor's former flame is absent from his thoughts.
Winona Ryder, who dated Depp for three years during the early '90s, was convicted in December of shoplifting designer merchandise from a posh Beverly Hills department store. The frenzy of publicity she endured during the trial, though, was far too strong a punishment for whatever crime she may have committed, says Depp.
"She was unfairly beaten up in the media," Depp said in an interview at a Los Angeles hotel to promote his upcoming Disney film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, opening in theatres July 9.
"It became like a TV show or a daily serial in the newspaper. It was ludicrous."
The 40-year-old actor hasn't spoken to Ryder since the actress's legal woes began. She was ultimately convicted of grand theft and vandalism, ordered to perform 480 hours of community service and placed on a three-year probation.
"But knowing her, knowing how sharp she is and smart she is and strong she is, she'll come out of that stuff fine," said Depp, whose much-publicized breakup with Ryder 10 years ago led to him getting his tattoo changed.
(When Depp's Pirates of the Caribbean co-star Orlando Bloom first saw the Wino Forever tattoo, he was genuinely baffled. "I looked at it and I was like, 'What's that? Wino Forever?' I'm not really big on popular culture.")
Having endured a couple of decades in the unrelenting Hollywood spotlight himself, Depp now makes his home in the south of France with singer-actress Vanessa Paradis and their two children.
He says the backlash against France that stemmed from French President Jacques Chirac's hesitance to join the U.S.-led war in Iraq not only had very little effect on the French people themselves, but it painted American politicians as buffoons on the world stage.
"You don't notice it at all in France," Depp said. "They're pretty calm in terms of that kind of thing. I think they really get it about Bush. More than most people.
"Chirac said, 'Listen, hold on, let's not invade Iraq. Let's hang on a minute and let's investigate and see these weapons of mass destruction. Let's see proof.' So my initial reaction was, 'Seems reasonable to me.' "
Depp said the crowning moment came when French products suddenly became taboo in the U. S. of A.
"My favourite thing out of all of it was the brilliant government officials who decided to change the name of french fries and french toast to freedom fries and freedom toast," he said.
"That, to me, was the ultimate revelation. They basically woke up one morning and addressed the globe and said, 'How do you do. We're idiots. We're childish. Just in case you wanted some proof, here it is. We're dumb asses.' "
Raising his children in the more laid-back environs of France is important to Depp. He said he'd advise his kids, including four-year-old daughter Lily-Rose Melody, to think twice about moving to America when they're older.
"America is kind of like Disneyland," Depp said. "It's a nice place to visit, spend some time in. It's a beautiful country. But at the moment I don't think you want to live there. You don't want to live in Disneyland, either."
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