The dark side of stardom: A superstar’s childhood of pain

There are movie stars, and then there are cultural forces who seem to exist on a different level entirely. Johnny Depp belongs firmly in the second category. Twice named Sexiest Man Alive, one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, and the actor behind some of the most iconic characters in modern cinema—his rise to superstardom looks glamorous from the outside. But the man behind the roles grew up in a home where safety didn’t exist.

Born in a small town in Kentucky as the youngest of four children, Depp was raised by a waitress mother and a civil engineer father. His childhood was marked by constant upheaval, with the family moving frequently before finally settling in Miramar, Florida, in 1970. Inside the house, however, stability never arrived.