Johnny Depp Wows Venice in Gritty Gangster Tale ‘Black Mass’

It’s Johnny Depp’s day at the Venice Film Festival. Judging by the acclaim greeting his performance in gangster drama “Black Mass,” it may turn out to be Johnny Depp’s year.
Johnny Depp Wows Venice in Gritty Gangster Tale ‘Black Mass’
Johnny Depp signs autographs for fans as he departs after the photo call for the film Black Mass during the 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Friday, Sept. 4, 2015. Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP
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VENICE, Italy — It’s Johnny Depp’s day at the Venice Film Festival. Judging by the acclaim greeting his performance in gangster drama “Black Mass,” it may turn out to be Johnny Depp’s year.

A pallid, blond and balding Depp is virtually unrecognizable as real-life Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, who built up a criminal empire while acting as a longtime FBI informant — or “professional criminal consultant,” as one character puts it.

Depp’s Bulger is charismatic, scarily calm and utterly ruthless. It’s a remarkable transformation that could net him an Oscar nomination. But the actor says he has ready access to his dark side.

“I found the evil in myself a long time ago, and I’ve accepted it,” Depp told reporters in Venice Friday. “We’re old friends.”

Some are calling “Black Mass” Depp’s comeback film — though that would be news to the hundreds of Depp fans who camped out beside Venice’s Palace of Cinema Friday, hours before the movie’s red-carpet world premiere.

Actors from left Johnny Depp and Dakota Johnson arrive for the press conference of the film Black Mass at the 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Friday, Sept. 4, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Actors from left Johnny Depp and Dakota Johnson arrive for the press conference of the film Black Mass at the 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Friday, Sept. 4, 2015. AP Photo/Andrew Medichini