Johnny Depp recently revealed that he landed the iconic role of Edward Scissorhands by outshining some of the biggest names in the music and film industry.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star shared that he won the role in Tim Burton‘s 1990 gothic fantasy Edward Scissorhands over Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and even Michael Jackson for his eponymous role.
As per PEOPLE, remembering the movie for an unnamed documentary series about Burton, Depp said to director Tara Wood that Cruise “was not far away from actually playing Edward Scissorhands — true story.”
He also claimed that he “had to fight it” following being “pigeonholed” as a teen idol starring in 21 Jump Street from 1987 to 1990.
Depp was cast as the devoted misfit who was invented by a scientist (Vincent Price) using scissors in lieu of his hands.
He continues, saying that turning his own rebellious persona into the 1990 hit song Cry-Baby by John Waters "was the first solid step in the direction I wanted to go."
The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory star added,“In all honesty, I was probably doing my best for probably the last two years to get fired… I knew how important the choice to make Cry-Baby with John Waters was, which gave me the opportunity to make fun of this arena I’d been placed in.”
He shared hat Burton and Caroline Thompson’s script “passed through everything, anything, solid and went to the very core of whatever I am. The writing was beautiful. The character was beautiful. What I suppose [attracted] me emotionally was that Edward was me. It’s exactly what I should be doing.”
The Tim Burton docuseries is premiering at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on Monday, June 10.
