Tim Burton and Johnny Depp: Made for each other

Here are the first two paragraphs of my piece on Tim and Johnny, one of several creative duo features from the LA Times's current issue of The Envelope.

LONDON -- GONE are the days when Tim Burton had to fight to cast Johnny Depp. For "Edward Scissorhands," the studio wanted Tom Cruise; for "Sleepy Hollow" the name in the frame was Brad Pitt. The turning point came when "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" went mega, earning Depp not only an Oscar nomination for lead actor but also a place on the A list. When it came time for Burton to cast Willy Wonka in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," the studio had a suggestion -- what did he think of Johnny Depp?

"Most of the times we've worked together he's had to go into great big battles to get them to hire me," Depp says. "I feel so lucky to be along for the ride, more than a couple few times. For a lot of reasons. No. 1, Tim is a filmmaker I admire, but he's much, much more than that. Without embarrassing him, he's a true artist, which is something I wasn't sure was possible in today's cinema. But he's the real thing. He's a visionary, an auteur, totally uncompromising."

Click the headline for the link and the rest.