10 Movie Directors Who Cast Actors As Cinematic Versions Of Themselves
4. Tim Burton Is As Inaccessible As Johnny Depp
There's an early scene in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow in which a disheveled criminal, who bears a striking resemblance to the director, is arrested for thievery.
It's a wonder the director didn't play the role himself, as the film basically steals its sets and atmosphere from the Hammer Horror films of the 50s and 60s, but it would have been superfluous, as Burton already cast himself in the movie.
He just happened to be played by Johnny Depp.
Before Depp became a walking caricature, he served as Burton's muse, playing into the filmmaker's tastes, eccentricities and pet obsessions. Burton is a weird, weird guy, with particular interests that he expressed through Depp's lovelorn Edward Scissorhands - a film he's said is his most personal.
Depp's untouchable, endearing monster-man represents Burton's own inability to communicate with other people through his teenage years.
He later used Depp to play Ed Wood, a tribute to the desire to create despite the ability or talent to do so.
Since then, the two have been virtually inseparable, each indulging in the other's quirks.