Johnny Depp spent a decade on the fringes of Hollywood as a favorite of independent directors like Tim Burton and Lasse Hallstrom, until his unbridled originality and penchant for extreme characterizations found a worldwide audience with “The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003). Throughout the 1990s the actor built a strong critical and art house following portraying societal outsiders – from the anatomic anomaly “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) to cross-dressing B-movie director “Ed Wood” (1994) to twitchy drug-addled journalist Hunter S. Thompson in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (1998). He was so adept in disappearing into characters and accents that many had long ago forgotten that this respected “actor’s actor” had initially gotten his start as a posterboy of both bad behavior – numerous real-life run-ins with the press and the occasional trashing of a hotel room – as well as good, getting his big break on the teenybopper favorite, “21 Jump Street” (Fox, 1987-1991). Depp’s reputation as an “actor’s actor” solidified with leads in mainstream films “Donnie Brasco” (1997) and “Blow”(2001), but when Disney cast him as Captain Jack Sparrow, the actor’s characterization of the plundering pirate captivated international moviegoers and made box office history. While Depp remained loyal to the offbeat and fantastical films of Tim Burton, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise turned the edgy and inventive leading man into a reluctant superstar.