Depp crusades with West of Memphis
TORONTO - Johnny Depp supported the crusading documentary film West of Memphis as a friend of the family, not as a celebrity advocate, the Hollywood superstar said Saturday.
"I don't think of myself as a celebrity," Depp told a Toronto filmfest press conference just before TIFF screened West of Memphis.
The film documents a gross miscarriage of justice. It is serious stuff. But Depp mocked himself before getting down to business about West of Memphis. "You know, myself, I'm essentially a gas station attendant with a very strange job."
But he knows people will listen when he talks about Damien Echols and two other Arkansas men wrongly convicted of the murder of three young boys. It was a sensationalized case that turned into what Depp calls "a witchhunt." The three spent 18 years in prison. They are still looking to be exonerated because Arkansas officials forced them to plead guilty, despite proving their innocence, before releasing them.
"If there are people out there who will take a minute to listen to what I have to say," Depp said, "and to what these guys have to say, I think they'll learn a lot more about this case. I'm here to support my friends."
West of Memphis is produced by New Zealand filmmakers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (of Lord of the Rings fame). Jackson said by Skype to Toronto that he wants the film to keep the controversial case alive, especially because Arkansas officials are refusing to deal with evidence that points to the real killer, who is identifie! d in the film. "We thought a documentary film would be the perfect forum to get the evidence out."
Depp befriended Echols and his wife Lorri Davis after seeing an earlier documentary about the case, Paradise Lost. "I just knew that this was a horrific lie," Depp said of the convictions, "and that these boys were innocent." When he met Echols, "there was some kind of brotherly love there that was instant."
Echols and his wife visited Depp's home after Echols got out of prison a year ago. "To finally see Damien arrive at my house on my doorstep was quite moving," Depp said. "It was a celebration. It was beautiful. He and Lorri arrived at my house, we had Tater Tots and tacos, and then a natural course of events took place and we went straight to the tattoo parlour."
TO HELL AND BACK
Damien Echols "went through hell" to get permission to come to Canada to join his pal and advocate Johnny Depp at TIFF for the premiere of the documentary about his case, West of Memphis.
"The U.S. still shows that I still have three counts of murder on my criminal record," Echols told a TIFF press conference Saturday. "So I have to go through all of these extraordinary measures that the average person wouldn't have to."
West of Memphis chronicles how Echols and two other men were wrongly convicted. But they have yet to be fully cleared. "We're going to keep going until we're complete exonerated."
That is exactly what they deserve, Depp said, adding that the film will help. "This is the road to total exoneration."
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