In a 2002 interview on French television, Johnny Depp called William Saroyan's introduction to his play, The Time of Your Life, his "Bible . . . because—yeah—in the time of your life, you know, which is like—tiny—live!"

Interviewer: You have said that all the parts you played in the cinema conformed to what Saroyan said.

JD: They're somehow related, I think, yeah. I think they're related because that for me is as much of a Bible as what Kerouac wrote in On the Road. Maybe more, in fact. [. . .] For me—what else can you say? That's it, right there—it's a great gift that Saroyan left to everyone . . . but to me, to give to my kids, to my daughter and to give to my expected child—to be able to say, 'Here. Read that. Understand that. And most important, Live that!"