Moving swiftly on to Montacute House, near Yeovil in Somerset... but the film crew weren't quick enough to avoid heavy local press & radio coverage, which brought crowds of fans and chaos to the filming location. There were press articles about the Montacute House filming on 11 March, 12 March and 18 March, plus more photos at The Z Review.

If things weren't already mad enough, the British comic Johnny Vegas has a small role in the film and had some amusing things to say about 'the other' Johnny.

The next stop was Wells Cathedral, where the city was already primed for Depp's visit and fans were out early for a peek, where the scene was packed with local extras. A visit to the local City Arms pub rounded off a hard day's filming in the chilly March weather. Some fans were lucky enough to get a picture with Johnny (search on 'Depp'), and one lucky woman ran into him at the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath. And finally, John Malkovich spoke earlier this month about the decamping of The Libertine to the Isle of Man for the interior shots for the movie -- filming there starts just after Easter. Many thanks to Emma, Reemi, neophyte, Sam and Really for all the news.

Hollywood's most geometric cheekbones:  There was a fine profile of The Deppster in Time Magazine issue of 15 March (US edition only). And there are more great articles on the Comeback Kid, and at People magazine; Zap2it.com; Mega Star; The Gate; Calgary Sun; Ireland On-line; LA Daily News; Confessions of Depp; a longer version of the same article in 'the Hollywood heavyweight' (register to view); Dreaming of Depp; and finally the Sun-Sentinel. Thanks to Kara, JS, Reemi, nancyb, Stace, Abi, Emma, liz, Cindy, Sleepy, Bella, Valeris and everyone else who reported. And (warning: spoilers) the Secret Window DVD is already in preparation, with a projected July '04 release date for the US - thanks johnnylubber, Emma and depptwins.

He made napping and eating a sandwich interesting activities. So says Secret Window's director David Koepp of Johnny's acting skills in this NY Post article - thanks Alix. Fangoria's review has a great photo of 'Mort'. Fangoria's April issue and the June issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Mag have interviews with David Koepp and Creative Screenwriting Vol 11 #2 has a SW script review (none of these are available on-line). There's another script review (warning: spoilers!) at Film Jerk - thanks to Newbie, Reemi, Moliere and DeepinDepp for the neat finds. Reemi and Valeris found more fascinating interviews with David Koepp at ActionAdventure and Canoe.ca.

 In other news.. Johnny made No 1 on The IT List, and he's also listed as one of the Inspirational People - thanks to johnnylubber, Chicago Jazz and Really for the neat finds. Liz found a sweet snippet at the BBC Radio 1 site, and Donna B reported that JD's friend, the photographer & artist François-Marie Banier, has his first US exhibition at Miami Beach's Bass Museum of Art from March 5–May 30. Harking back to older days, Frency found the trailer for Private Resort, and Reemi discovered that Cry Baby is to be written for a stage production.

You can vote for Johnny in People's upcoming 30th Anniversary issue (the temporary 'Newsstand signup' password is 'inspire'), and also in Hollywood.com's Sexy Stars 2004 poll - thanks Gwennie, liz and Cindy. And a reminder from DeepinDepp that the DVD edition of 'Breakfast with Hunter' is exclusively available at the Wayne Ewing Films site. Johnny features extensively throughout the film, which has yet to receive a wide theatrical release. Finally, the shops at the Johnny Birthday Project are now closed, but you can still contribute ideas to Don Juan's Darling's site.

1 March 04: Johnny graced the Oscars' Red Carpet last night, immaculate in Armani, with Vanessa and his mom Betty-Sue on his arms. Once we'd got our breath back, we eventually noticed that the scissors had been wielded on JD's hair since his recent Secret Window press conference. Very impressive.

Red Carpet photos are fast appearing all over the web - including the enlargeable ones at Getty Images, plus lots of thumbnails at Film Magic (search on 'depp') and WireImage.com.

Emma and Reemi found a great Red Carpet quote from Johnny about his Oscar nom: "I was shocked and I am still shocked. I'll probably always be shocked." If he were to win an Oscar for best actor, he said, "I'll turn to liquid." You can read more memorable Oscar quotes at Yahoo!

As well as having his girl and his mom there for encouragement, Johnny was wearing a good luck charm given to him by his daughter, Lily-Rose. Thanks Reemi for the sweet find.

Emma found another cute snippet: FAMOUS LAST WORDS: Johnny Depp to the Sun-Times last summer, two weeks before Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl opened: "What did you say? An Oscar nomination. Yeah, right... But if you want to write that, it would be OK with me. But a nomination? Come on."

Sean Penn, who won the Best Actor award, generously singled out his fellow nominees in his acceptance speech.

Previous Breaking News pages:
February 2004
January 2004