White fake receding hairline, blue eyes and a fair skin, Depp resembled Whitey completely. Once the look was perfected, Johnny Depp sat with Cooper to study surveillance tapes and old photos from the FBI archives.
Whitey Bulger wasn’t your typical moustache swirling villain. Whitey was brazen and there was a style and a swagger in the way he walked and talked and killed people in cold blood.
In the photo that’s been released, Depp walks down a street in his character, right after he had shot a man in front of a crowd at a parking lot. He had witnesses see him in broad day light and he could care less. Depp adopted these ecstatic nuances of Whitey with ease.
Black Mass is expected to release on September 18th and it tells the story of Whitey Bulger and John Connolly, played by Joel Edgerton. Whitey and Connolly were childhood friends, but while Whitey was a hardened gangster, Connolly was an FBI agent. The FBI agent and the father of the Irish mob get into back room deals, which take a nasty turn.
Whitey Bulger is nothing short of a legend and Scott Cooper wants everything to be perfect. Devotees of Bulger can expect an action filled film in the lines of The Departed, American Gangster and Donnie Brasco.
Johnny Depp is a method actor and his role in Black Mass has already created an Oscar buzz. His portrayal is sure to surprise even the real Whitey Bulger.