Portraying Donald Trump in a recent spoof was as easy as invoking the billionaire businessman’s inner “brat,” Johnny Depp told students at Arizona State University at Saturday.
The 52-year-old “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor was discussing the links between madness and creativity at ASU over the weekend when he was asked to explain how he prepared for his role as the Republican Party presidential front-runner for a recent project published by comedy site Funny or Die.
“I approached Donald Trump as what you kind of see in him when you really watch him. There’s a pretense. There’s something created about him in the sense of bullydom. But what he is, I believe, is a brat,” Mr. Depp said to a rapturous round of applause.
The actor went on to acknowledge “the absurdity of where his sentences might travel” before treating the college crowd to his impersonation of Mr. Trump.
“Everything is mine. Even if I don’t own it,” Mr. Depp said in his best Trump impression. “I’m going to build a wall. And all of my billions are not going to have to pay for it. Because you know why? Mexico is going to pay for it.”
Mr. Depp portrayed Mr. Trump in a 50-minute fake biopic, “The Art of the Deal,” put out by Funny or Die last month.
“He’s Depp, so when he comes into a role, he fully embodies it,” director Jeremy Konner told Entertainment Weekly. “He brought a darkness that I don’t think we would have gotten if Adam Sandler had played him. There was some real, meaty, dark depths in there. There was a little bit of Whitey Bulger sticking out at points, a little bit of Hunter [S. Thompson] sticking out at times. At the very end, when he had to talk like a kid and they switch places, he went full Ed Wood.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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