Talk guns and Johnny Depp gets animated, but the Pirates of the Caribbean hunk is perhaps the only actor who did not ascend to superstardom with shoot-em-up roles, writes Rachel Abramowitz

Actor Johnny Depp has fond memories of his first machine gun. He was a kid growing up in Owensboro, Kentucky, and around the age of five or six, began shooting .22s, then moved to .38s, .44s and .45s. Then he got his hands on a relative's Thompson submachine gun. "I butted it up against the tree 'cause it tends to ride up on you," says Depp, 46, who relives the moment, complete with shooting sounds. "My pop came in and grabbed it, so it didn't go anywhere."

Guns are a topic of conversation for Depp these days, given that the superstar is promoting his new film, Public Enemies, the Michael Mann gangster epic in which he plays infamous 1930s bank robber John H Dillinger.Ironically enough, he's practically the only actor who didn't ascend to superstardom with shoot-'em-up roles. Depp's done more than almost any other actor in Hollywood to expand the on-screen concept of masculinity.

He has appeared in almost 50 movies, but for much of his career he seemed like a bohemian artist, wary of the stardom that could be his given his on-screen charisma. More recently, he seems to have made peace by embracing the medium's mythic potential.

Depp hasn't played many ordinary citizens. He seems to prefer portraying an eye-lined pirate (The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy), the creepy candy impresario (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), the dreamy creator of Peter Pan (Finding Neverland), and the Mad Hatter from the upcoming Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland.

The vivid looks of his characters sprout from Depp's own imagination. "You get these strong images in your head and you can't shake them," he explains.

When preparing for a role, he sketches the character, or paints him in watercolour, allowing his brain to bounce along its own idiosyncratic path. Captain Jack Sparrow's coal-rimmed eyes weren't inspired by glam-rock but by Berber nomads who lined their orbs to protect them from the sun. "I always do (sketches)," says Depp.

Dillinger fits perfectly into Depp's personal canon of larger-than-life rebels and outsiders. The outlaw also holds sentimental appeal for the star, whose Kentucky hometown is but three hours from the gangster's birthplace in Mooresville, Indiana.

Dillinger was just a punk when he was sentenced to nine years in the penitentiary for his part in a drunken mugging. He emerged as a hardened criminal, led a gang on a dozen bank robberies, escaped from prison a couple of times, had a shootout with the FBI, and finally went down in a hail of bullets outside a Chicago movie theatre.

While researching his role, Depp searched for a voice recording of the outlaw but couldn't find one, although a recording of Dillinger's father turned out to be revelatory.

"Hearing Dillinger's pop... these are guys I know. I knew him then," says Depp. "I wanted to salute my grandfather through Dillinger and salute Dillinger through my grandfather. You know, my grandfather, drove a bus during the day in the '30s and moonlighted by night."

Depp says he felt a connection to Dillinger in old films Depp watched for hours on his family's black-and-white TV. That was in Florida, where his parents ultimately moved and split up. Young Depp was enthralled with Dillinger as well as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

"The title of the film is Public Enemies, but I don't see John Dillinger as an enemy of the public," says Depp. He points out that Dillinger's prime antagonist, J. Edgar Hoover, wreaked more havoc and misery during his 40-year tenure atop the FBI than Dillinger did during his 18-month crime spree. "I mean, who's the real criminal?" Depp asks.

Like most actors, Depp has issues with the media; reports of friction between Mann, known for his attention to detail, and Depp have been well publicised over the past months. Depp says it was all part of the process.

"He's intense, and as long as you sort of walk into the ring ready for that, it's all fine," Depp explains, noting that Mann "is painting the picture, and that's the one thing that takes a bit of getting used to. I'm definitely not good at just being a colour on the palette, you know. I need a brush in my hand sometimes."

In a separate interview, Mann says, "I will tell you there were scenes and moments it was complete and total rapport, and other times I'm seeing it one way and we're butting heads a little bit." But, "Johnny said to me the other night, 'When things are blissful on set, it's usually not a good movie.' I want actors to have an interpretation."

Depp hasn't seen Public Enemies. In fact, he hasn't seen the last two "Pirate" films, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or Sweeney Todd.

"I try not to," he says. "Once you see it, maybe you have to admit it is a product or something." Depp doesn't like the idea of a price tag being placed on himself or the artistic process. "Having done it, lived it ... I like the idea of just walking away with the experience."