Lily-Rose Depp reveals what life’s really like with famous parents
Born to movie star Johnny Depp and French model Vanessa Paradis, Lily-Rose Depp was destined never to have a normal life.
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When most children were playing in the park or at football training, Lily-Rose Depp was jetting off to exotic climes on private jets and watching her parents at film premieres.
But Lily-Rose – the 20-year-old daughter of actor Johnny Depp and French singer-turned-model Vanessa Paradis – insists that despite the glamour and spotlight of fame, she could not have asked for a better upbringing.
She says: “My parents weren’t very strict. They’ve always trusted me to be independent and make my own decisions. There wasn’t really anything to rebel against.
“They both left school when they were 15, so they can’t really say anything. I never thought of university as my goal.
“I’ve always just wanted to work. I didn’t have any incentive to keep doing all that work.”
Now Lily-Rose, who bears a huge resemblance to her parents, is making a name for herself in a new Netflix film about Henry V, The King, which also stars Joel Edgerton and Robert Pattinson.
But Lily did not always dream of being an actress. In her early years it was her mum’s singing career she wanted to emulate.
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Vanessa, now 46, became a child star at 14 with hit 1991 single Joe Le Taxi. It was a massive success in her native France, topping the charts for almost three months.
It propelled her to international stardom and also reached the top three in the UK.
She went on to sell more than five million records worldwide, toured the globe and played with stars including Lenny Kravitz and Lou Reed.
She also became the face of perfume Chanel and a muse for fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld.
In one memorable advertisement, Vanessa was covered in black feathers, portraying a bird swinging in a cage.
Lily-Rose says: “When I was little, I wanted to be a singer, just because I wanted to be like Mum. Every little girl wants to be like her mum.
“I would try on all of her dresses and shoes, even though I was in diapers at the time.
“There’s actually a picture of me in a diaper wearing Chanel pumps.
“She is very natural, so she’d steer me in that direction. It’s funny because I wanted to be wearing make-up even when I was far too little to be wearing it, especially to school.
“But the first time that my mum gave me make-up that I was allowed to wear, I must have been 12 or 13. I still have it.
“It was a little orange make-up bag with all these products in it. It was very special — my favourite birthday present.
“And it’s also kind of symbolic, it’s like the turning of a page, becoming a young lady.”
That young lady would soon blossom into a fully fledged model, again like her mum, as a 17-year-old poster girl for Chanel.
Speaking about Lily-Rose’s early foray into fashion Johnny, 56, admitted he was “quite worried”, saying: “I wasn’t expecting all this to happen to Lily-Rose, especially not at this age. But it’s her passion and she’s having fun.”
Before being in a long-term partnership with Johnny, Vanessa was in a five-year relationship with rocker Lenny Kravitz, who produced her 1992 self-titled album.
But in 1998, Vanessa met Pirates Of The Caribbean star Johnny at a friend’s party.
They quickly moved in together and soon had Lily-Rose and her brother Jack, now 17.
Lily-Rose split her childhood between their homes in LA and France, growing up bilingual.
She says: “I feel so connected to my French roots and my American roots. I’m connected to both cultures.
“I feel very lucky to speak both languages and to be able to participate in French films as well as American ones.
“To me those two cultures are so deeply ingrained in who I am and how I grew up. It’s two things I feel very connected to.”
During Lily-Rose’s childhood, Johnny and Vanessa were one of the globe’s most famous couples, with the movie hunk being nominated for three Best Actor Oscars before she reached the age of ten.
But the unmarried pair’s success came at a price.
In 2012, they announced their split and the following year Johnny opened up about the failed relationship, saying: “The last couple years have been a bit bumpy.
“At times, certainly unpleasant, but that’s the nature of breakups, I guess, especially when there are kiddies involved.
“Relationships are very difficult. Especially in the racket that I’m in because you’re constantly away or they’re away and so it’s hard. It wasn’t easy on her. It wasn’t easy on me. It wasn’t easy on the kids.
“The trajectory of that relationship — you play it out until it goes. One thing leads to another.
“It doesn’t stop the fact that you care for that person, and they are the mother of your kids, and you will always know each other, and you’re always gonna be in each other’s lives because of those kids. You might as well make the best of it.”
‘I LOVE THE INCREDIBLE STRENGTH SHE DISPLAYS’
Despite the split, Lily-Rose praises her mum and dad for “keeping her grounded”.
She says: “I just think it’s really important to have a good support system around you and be grounded by those people. And to just kind of remember that, that’s the most important thing.”
Lily-Rose, who now lives in New York, says she has learned from the pitfalls of her parents’ relationship and tries “to keep my life as private as I can”.
“My parents did a great job of giving me and my brother the most private upbringing we could have. So to value your private life and to keep it for yourself has always been important to me,” she says.
And despite her success as a model and actress, she says she is a “home body” at heart.
She says: “I’m not really a club-goer. I’m really a chilled person. I like staying at home. I honestly watch cooking shows more than anything.”
But, she admits, the fame she and her parents have experienced has left her worrying about who she can truly trust.
“You’re always kind of sharpening your radars about people and who is going to be a good influence in your life and who is not, and who is really there for the right reasons. I think that’s universal,” Lily-Rose says.
In her biggest acting role to date, Lily-Rose plays Henry V’s stoic wife Catherine of Valois in The King – and she believes she can relate to the character.
She says: “What I really loved about her is the incredible strength she displays and the conviction with which she speaks.
“This is not something that was easily given to women at the time. And it’s not even given to her – she takes it.” It is clear where Lily-Rose takes her inspiration.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Lily-Rose Depp reveals what life’s really like with famous parents