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Johnny Depp appeared in character as Ebenezer Scrooge at an event in Bryant Park in New York City.
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The actor trashed Christmas decor while promoting his new movie Ebenezer.
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Depp’s Scrooge told carolers to “shut up” and threw a Christmas tree to the ground during the stunt.
Johnny Depp is Scooging about in the Big Apple.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star arrived at Bryant Park in New York City in character as Ebenezer Scrooge as part of a promotional stunt for his new film Ebenezer.
In one video, Depp grabs cookies off of a tray and throws them on the ground before scolding a man dressed as Santa Claus. “Don’t touch my bell!” he warns.
In another clip, Depp confronts a man who demands that he leave the event. “I feel unpleasant,” he responds. “I feel unwell.” He then blows a raspberry at a group of carolers singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and tells them to “shut up.”
Elsewhere, Depp popped balloons with his Scrooge cane and slapped ornaments off of Christmas trees before grabbing a tree and throwing it to the ground.
“That was not my fault,” Depp says in another video of the tree takedown. “Bugger off!”
Depp previously pulled a similar stunt at San Diego Comic-Con, where he interacted with onlookers in character as Scrooge.
Ebenezer marks Depp’s first film released by a major Hollywood studio since his contentious legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, whom he sued for defamation after she accused him of abuse. The trial ended with a jury finding that Heard had defamed Depp, and the ex-couple eventually reached a settlement after Heard appealed the verdict.
Director Ti West explained why he wanted Depp to portray Scrooge.
“The Dickensian dialogue has a certain musicality to it, and I just think Johnny has that cadence and that musicality to the way that he performs. And I thought, ‘I don’t know if he’d ever want to do it.’ And so we sent it over and he also coincidentally happened to be obsessed with it his whole life,” he said. “Having made the movie with him, I was right: The musicality is what is in the performance…And he brings a different thing to it than anyone else has done. It’s uniquely him, but it’s also very reverent of the text.”
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West also said that Depp rendered Scrooge as a complex character. “He has a way of hitting all of the classic Scrooge moments that make him an unlikable guy, but there’s a certain sense of humor and charm to it as well,” he said. “In other adaptations, Scrooge is kind of an a–hole, and then the rest of the characters are benevolent, perfect people. And it was really our goal to try to balance that out to say that there’s much more of a gray area in the story.”
Ebenezer opens in theaters on Nov. 13.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
