Sounds an awful lot like a quote from another CIA agent we all know and love, doesn't it? He sets 'em up and watches 'em fall!

Ahh, the love Sheldon Jeffrey...livin' la vida loca!

....and engaging in creative sportsmanship!

.......and restoring the balance.



But now I'm a little off balance.

Speaking of which, does anyone else think that Johnny should have given Robbins a little more credit in the creation of Agent Sands? I know he has recommended Fierce Invalids numerous times and acknowledges Robbins in that way but you just know Sands' Judy Garland fetish and his prissy mannerisms had to come from Switters. (I remember Johnny talking about Sands's secret life, i.e., fondness for musicals, etc. and Robert Rodriguez saying that one of the changes Johnny made to RR original character was to have him never curse and to be a bit of a sissy - in my mind like Switters and his refusal to think about bodily functions, etc.). I'm not criticizing Johnny. It's just that I can see alot of Switters in Sands.

I see a lot of Switters in Sands, too. But I've never heard Johnny mention where he got his inspiration for Sands at all - not the way he has Inchabod and Ed Wood, for example. It would be ineteresting to know what components he put together for THAT character. Gosh, I just love Sands!

lumineuse - I believe he said part of his inspiration was a lawyer he once had who could look you in the face and lie the biggest lie but be so charming that you couldn't help but like him anyway. But other than that, I agree with you, I'd love to know more. (As a lawyer myself, I should realize that he probably can't attribute Sands in any real way to the Switters character without the studio "suits" getting all nervous ).

Switters in Sands? Definitely! I wonder if Robbins and Johnny have ever talked? You are right about this being one character we haven't heard Johnny talk about much. Scarlett, I remember the lawyer quote too but don't remember where I read it either. I just love that Sands too!

I think it was on E News just before OUATIM came out. He also talked about how much fun it was, asking RR for more scenes. Also in that interview he was being non-committal about being cast for Willy Wonka. There were so many times I saw Sands in Switters. I could just hear him speaking the lines in the book.

Well, the more I read "Johnny's recommendations" the more I pick up phrases, bits, pieces of spoken Johnny. I've read that he keeps a journal and writes down things he reads that he likes. I was thinking last night as I was highlighting yet another interesting passage in one of "his" books, that it would be alot easier for me to write it down in a journal so I could refer back to it instead of trying to figure out which book I read it in.

As you may know, I am still struggling through "Dante", but in the last dozen or so pages I have read many passages relating to "breathing".

...and then just recently we discussed a Robbin's interview where it sounded an awful lot like thats darn "dumb puppy" interview.

I'm beginning to see a pattern.


Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.” - Jim Jarmusch

I don't know if you all read this essay, which was posted on another thread, but it puts forth an interesting viewpiont on Johnny's acting which I think is in line with what we are talking about here.

http://johnnydepp-zone.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=10492

David Koepp, director and screenwriter of SW, said that you have to watch what you you do around Johnny because he's a mimic. It is possible that he takes what he likes and makes it his own--like how he views religion....and acting.