For a long time, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis were called the most beautiful married couple in world show business. The legendary “Pirate of the Caribbean” has a history of many affairs. The French actress, singer and model Johnny Depp is also not her first beloved man.
She was romantically involved with:
- aspiring musician Florent Pagny (1988-1991);
- American singer Lenny Kravitz (1992-1997).
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have been a model couple for many years
Vanessa Paradis is not prone to momentary romances and one-night stands. Unions, even those that did not lead to marriage, were long-lasting. But Johnny Depp became the actress’s “man of her life.” This was confirmed by separation - a real test of the sincerity of feelings. Vanessa is now married, and continues to be friends with Johnny.
After affairs with businessman David-Guy Garbi and singer Benjamin Biole, Vanessa returned to Johnny Depp. But she soon married Samuel Benchetrit, a director. Let's trace the history of the relationship between the star couple - Depp and Paradis.
Acquaintance
The union of stars cannot be called love at first sight. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis were introduced to each other at a party in 1994. The actor was fond of Kate Moss, and the French singer dated Lenny Kravitz. The two stars simply said “Hi” to each other and went their separate ways.
In one interview, Depp admitted that he was shocked by the beauty of the French woman. The next day he forgot about the meeting. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis met for the second time four years later, in the lobby of the Costes Hotel in Paris.
“She was wearing a backless dress,” Johnny recalls. “I saw the back and this neck at the end of the hall, and mentally said: “Wow!!!” The woman turned around, but I couldn’t understand whether it was an angel or a person. At that moment I only realized that my bachelor life was over.”
Johnny and Vanessa in their youth
Development of a relationship
The “spark” slipped between the two stars too clearly, and they did not delay their approach for long. Fate gave them a second chance: Depp and Paradis were busy filming the mystical blockbuster The Ninth Gate, directed by Roman Polanski.
Working together turned into love. Less than three months later, Vanessa told Johnny the good news: she was expecting a baby. The pregnancy of his beloved completely changed the life of the reveler Depp. He forgot the noisy parties and devoted himself entirely to improving the family nest.
“It was like I had an epiphany,” the actor said. “It was as if I had been wandering around in a fog all the time, from which I was finally pulled out.” In 1999, at the end of May, the daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis was born in Paris. She was given the amazing name Lily-Rose-Melody. Now (2020) the girl is 21 years old, she has become a model and is pursuing a career as a film actress.
Three years later, in April 2002, a boy was born. The son of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis was named John Christopher III. This is the actor's full name, as "Johnny" is Depp's stage name. At birth he was named John Christopher Depp II, since his father was the first in the family to bear this name.
Johnny and Vanessa with small children
In the family, Johnny and Vanessa's son was simply called Jack - in honor of the favorite character played by the actor, Jack Sparrow. Now (2020) the guy is 18, he amazes with his masculine beauty, although, unlike his older sister, he has not decided on a profession.
Journalists often asked the star couple why they did not bring their relationship to the climax - wedding. Johnny laughed it off, saying he didn’t want his wife to change such a beautiful surname (in French Paradis - “Paradise”).
Johnny Depp with Kate Moss and Vanessa Paradis
Johnny Depp and his women are a separate topic that is under the close attention of his fans. In 1994, Johnny Depp began dating fashion model Kate Moss. The couple loved to make scandals, loudly sort things out and even fight. Despite the raging emotions, Johnny Depp's romance with Kate Moss lasted 4 years.
In 1998, while filming Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Depp met French singer Vanessa Paradis, and this meeting became fateful for him. He settled with Vanessa in France, his wife gave birth to his daughter, daughter Lily-Rose Melody (1999) and son Jack John Christopher III (2002).
Johnny Depp's son - John Christopher Depp
Johnny Depp's daughter - Lily-Rose Melody Depp
In the 2000s, Depp actively filmed, confirming his star status, and the film “Pirates of the Caribbean” brought him into a new orbit. The adventure story instantly became a hit, bringing colossal fees to the participants in the filming, and Johnny Depp himself received an Oscar nomination.
By 2012, Depp arrived with a reputation as a talented dramatic actor, capable of portraying any character on screen, and as an exemplary family man. However, in the middle of the year he shocked the public by breaking up with Paradis.
Look at the photos of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis during their time together and after the separation - there is no tension between the former partners:
Both of them later stated that they maintained friendly relations and intended to raise children together.
A break up
The star couple lived in perfect harmony for 14 years, although it never came to the point of going to the registry office. Johnny and Vanessa lived like real spouses, having bought a house in the south of France (in Plan de la Tour, near St. Tropez), and took care of the children.
Then they bought a cozy estate in Los Angeles. But even this was not enough for Johnny. In 2005, the actor spent $3 million to purchase the island of Little Hall's Pond Cay in the Bahamas.
Johnny and Vanessa at the height of their love
However, such rich real estate did not protect Johnny and Vanessa from breaking up. Or rather, the actor’s wild nature and amorous nature began to take over. Since 2010, rumors have emerged that Depp is having affairs with his co-stars.
Some of them, like the one about Eva Green, turned out to be gossip. But the affair with Amber Heard, Johnny's partner in the film The Rum Diary, was real. In January 2012, the actor appeared alone at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony. In the spring, their breakup was confirmed by Johnny Depp's press secretary.
Vanessa flatly refused to clarify anything about the reason for the actual divorce. “I don’t want anyone to make a business out of someone else’s pain,” she said.
The stars parted peacefully, maintaining warm and friendly relations. The actor bought a house in Hollywood for his former lover and children (his daughter and son, teenagers, stayed with their mother).
Are Depp and Paradis back together?
In January 2014, the actor had the imprudence to propose to his new passion, model Amber Heard, and in February 2015 the couple got married. But already in May 2016, a scandal broke out. Amber filed for divorce, claiming that she suffered domestic violence from her husband.
The model chose the most “fortunate” moment for this. Three days earlier, the actor’s mother died. Two women immediately spoke out in defense of the actor: his former lover, 48-year-old actress Winona Ryder and his former common-law wife Vanessa Paradis.
“I knew Johnny Depp as a kind and sensitive person, incapable of any violence. We lived happy 14 years, and I know what I'm saying. It’s a pity that now people tend to believe sensationalism more than the truth,” said the French actress.
After his divorce from Johnny, Depp moved to France to live with his ex-wife, who acted as a witness in a lawsuit against a slanderer. Tabloid journalists vied with each other to say that the star couple would live together again, and the tabloids were filled with photos of Johnny and Vanessa together in their youth.
But the forecasts did not come true. The French singer became interested in director Samuel Benchetrit and married him in 2021. At the altar, Vanessa appeared in the company of her daughter, who played the role of bridesmaid.
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis still support each other
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis
The end of single life
After exchanging a few talking glances, Johnny and Vanessa (who also belonged to the film crew of the film “The Ninth Gate”, participating in the casting for one of the roles in the film) found themselves at the same table. The initiative was taken by shy Johnny, who asked his colleagues to invite Vanessa to their table. The presence of a large, cheerful company helped the shy Depp to unobtrusively and easily captivate the sociable French woman in conversation. Since that fateful evening, Vanessa and Johnny have hardly been separated. A week later they began to live together. Paradis biographer Allen Grasset writes in his book about her:
She said she noticed him as soon as she entered the bar. They exchanged several long glances. When he invited her to their table, he invited her to sit next to him, and she, without hesitation, accepted the invitation. A few hours later, after everyone had finished dinner and left, Vanessa and Depp were still talking. As night fell, Depp remembered that early filming awaited him in the morning, and said goodbye, kissing his new acquaintance on the cheek. However, Paradis recalls that their relationship was not so simple from the very beginning. “Johnny wasn’t trying to hit on me at all when we first met in that bar. For a while we were just trying to get to know each other better,” she notes. The fact is that Depp had not yet completely broken up with Kate Moss. — We met often, but always in the company of other people. I wouldn’t want my child to read tabloid newspapers and think that he was born as a result of a random relationship. We didn’t plan for children in the sense of deciding: “Now we’re going to have a baby!” and get down to business right away. We just told each other that we wanted children. Making children is much more beautiful than making films or recording albums!”
Kate Moss and Johnny Depp - two young Hollywood brawlers - sincerely loved each other
From Depp's memoirs:
You could say that I fell in love with Vanessa at first sight. I was a lost man at that moment. She changed everything for me with incredible tenderness and understanding that was inherent in her. The two of us started showing off together after she finished filming the film “Girl on the Bridge.” At that time I was filming the film The Ninth Gate. We saw each other every night, every day, we could not live without each other for a long time. Nobody could separate us. When I saw the film "Girl on the Bridge", I was deeply impressed by the extraordinary beauty of this film, not to mention the images on the screen. You don't notice her method of playing, no real effort, no work; she is simply the most alive figure in the film, the most natural. I was truly and deeply infatuated with her. I am sure that the day will come when our daughter Lily-Rose will grow up and, after seeing this film, will be as proud of her mother as I am of her. There is something truly rare and precious about this film.
“...With Kate we spent a stormy youth without thinking about the future, but with Vanessa I felt that I had to be better, more responsible, and I tried...”
At the time she met Johnny, Vanessa was extremely popular in France: her compatriots doted on the thin, light Lolita of their pop scene. At the same time, Paradis was absolutely unknown to anyone in the USA, and in Europe and Russia she was associated only with her hit “Joe le taxi”. The girl's father and mother were directors. Vanessa came to relative international fame in 1991, when she became the face of an extensive Chanel advertising campaign, portraying a luxurious, exotic little thing, a bird in a golden cage. The subsequent relationship with world celebrity Lenny Kravitz, who produced her album, also added to the fame of the French actress and singer.
From an interview with Vanessa a decade later:
“On that day when we found each other in Paris, we were in the same world - both free, and everything happened in an instant. We simply couldn't waste any more time - we didn't even think about it.
When asked if she managed to “tame” the Pirates of the Caribbean star, a man who had previously dated the likes of Kate Moss and Winona Ryder, Paradis laughed:
- Tame... What does this mean? How's the lion? Nooo, no, everything is mutual with us. Maybe I'm a good girlfriend because I'm his girlfriend. I'm not sure I'd be a good girlfriend for anyone else; the same can be said about him. It's hard to explain, but it's something completely natural, obvious and beautiful.
Still from the film “Girl on the Bridge”
Vanessa did not create a framework for the freedom-loving Johnny: her energy gently enveloped, beckoned and excited Depp’s romantic soul. About a month after they met, he was already cheerfully packing his things, moving to a cozy rented apartment in Montmartre: to be closer to his beloved:
— When I worked on the set of the film “The Ninth Gate,” we saw each other every day and every evening. We couldn’t be apart for long; we couldn’t be torn away from each other...
The meeting with Vanessa turned the life of the Hollywood handsome man upside down: Depp found himself more than just a life partner. He's also found his style partner: both he and Vanessa dress in that weird, unique individual style that's part rock 'n' roll, part vintage. Seeing them together on the red carpet was always a great pleasure. From day one, they seemed to be a perfect match, even at the 2004 Academy Awards. Although Paradis seems more inclined than Depp to wear designer clothes (she always favored Chanel), she also always had a huge amount of beautiful vintage chiffon dresses in her wardrobe.
By the way, Depp's contracts always stipulate that he can keep all of his character's costumes - that's why he has an excellent selection of costumes made for him from designer Colleen Atwood, who has repeatedly received an Oscar for best costume designer . Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow, Johnny D., The Rum Diary and Dark Shadows - Joni stores all of Entwood's costumes in a special warehouse in Santa Monica, carefully packaged and numbered .
