Johnny Depp 'has NOT retired from acting' as he focuses on directing (2024)

Johnny Deppwill return to acting one day as he focuses on directing.

The 60-year-old actor - who DailyMail.com revealed has undergone a radical transformation including weight loss, haircut, and embracing 'clean living' - has not retired from his career as a thespian according to TMZ on Wednesday.

Insiders for the publication claim that he is not done acting but his current passion is directing and he is happy doing that as he is currently at the helm of biopic Modi.

He is said to be in the thick of editing and finalizing the film but his next move is completely up in the air and he has plans to return to acting in American films 'when the time is right' in the future.

According to IMDB the synopsis of Modi is: 'A 72 hour whirlwind through the streets of WWI Paris, Italian bohemian artist Modigliani attempts to out maneuver bombs, policemen, girlfriends and critics in a increasingly desperate search of a home for his art.'

The film has star power including Al Pacino,Riccardo Scamarcio, and Sally Phillips.

Modi is his first venture into directing in nearly 30 years as he last was at the helm for 1997 flick The Brave in which he co-starred with legendary actor Marlon Brando.

It was recently revealed by DailyMail.com that Depp has undergone a radical mid-life transformation – totally making himself over as he approaches his 61st birthday.

Earlier this year, the actor cut a distinctly bohemian figure.

In February, in Turin, Italy – where he is directing his new film Modi, about the artist Modigliani – he was pictured wearing a rasta beanie, a camo jacket complete with a Che Guevara patch, and hair so long that it spilled below shoulder length.

He has since had a very respectable make-over. Exclusive pictures show him arriving on Monday night at the small UK movie premiere of 'Jeanne Du Barry'.

Depp – who has clearly lost a considerable amount of weight – wore a slim-fitting Dior suit and had his hair trimmed short.

Friends of the Hollywood star, who turns 61 in June, confide that he has been living in London for a period and that the city is suiting him.

One says: 'He's been living in the UK while editing Modi, and has been living a cleaner lifestyle than at times in the past.'

I'm told that the long hair came off around a fortnight ago – in advance of Depp filming another advertising campaign for Dior. (He is the face of their best-selling fragrance, Sauvage.)

Depp plays Louis XV in 'Jeanne Du Barry', and speaks in French in the picture. The film is out in the UK on Friday and released in America next month. It was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last May.

Back then, Depp decried talk of his 'comeback'.

Asked whether he felt 'boycotted by Hollywood' following domestic abuse allegations made against him by his ex-wife Amber Heard, he said her claims were 'just vowels and consonants floating in the air.'

'It's almost like I need to comeback and do a tap dance and dance my best for you guys, and hope you approve,' he said.

'I didn't come back from anywhere,' he added. 'I didn't go anywhere.'

In 2022, Depp won a blockbuster US trial against Heard, with the court finding that she had defamed him when she alleged domestic abuse.

A previous libel trial, against The Sun newspaper which had called him a 'wife beater', ended in defeat for Depp in 2020.