Having a family gave daddy-of-two Johnny the confidence and perspective to “not care” about his work… to the point where it actually made him a better actor. It’s true. He told me. 
If you click the link below (and watch until the end, or, skip to the end) I ask Johnny what he knows now that he wishes he knew when he first started acting. After he answered (which you’ll see on the link!) the interview ended and the cameras turned off. What you won’t see is our brief exchange regarding my little theory about how having a baby/kids makes you grow up in a way that frees you (mentally, emotionally) to do better work than you did before having a family of your own. “I totally agree,” Johnny said. Me too, Johnny… me too.
You see, before LadyP came along I constantly worried if my work was good enough and smart enough every single time I had a job… to the point that it often inhibited me from rising to my full potential. If I had a bad day of interviews, I’d mentally torture myself about it for a week. If I had a teeny blunder on live TV, I’d replay it over and over in my head and get angry at myself. (Not exactly the best environment to create for yourself!) Now that LadyP is here, my attitude is more like “Have fun and #uck it (if anything goes awry).” The funny thing? Not much seems to go awry anymore… now that life is in perspective. Yes, I have bad workdays now and again, but they don’t bring me DOWN like they used to. And, I’m actually enjoying my work much more. Free at last! (I should’ve done this baby thing long ago!) Does anyone else relate?
Depp’s new movie Rango (in theaters this Friday, March 4) is a colorful, wacky and deep tale about a chameleon trying to find his identity… maybe he should have a baby? 🙂
