Johnny Depp Appears in Trailer for 2023 Karlovy Vary Film Festival During Event’s Opening Ceremony

Johnny Depp appears in the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival trailer. PHOTO: THE KARLOVY VARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL /INSTAGRAM

Johnny Depp makes an appearance in the new trailer for this year’s Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which debuted at Friday’s opening ceremony.

Directed by Ivan Zachariáš and set in the Hotel Gellért in Budapest, the trailer features the What’s Eating Gilbert Grape actor entering the hotel to sit down for an “interview” with a guitar case in hand.

After he is asked a “personal question” about why he “didn’t” receive an award the last time he was at the festival, Depp, 60, replies, “We’re here to talk about music, really,” before pulling a trophy out of his guitar case.

The onscreen appearance in which Depp pokes fun at himself comes two years after the actor was the festival’s guest of honor in 2021, when he presented two films he produced: Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan and Minamata.

Previous festival trailers have included Crystal Globe lifetime honorees, such as Mel Gibson, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Andy Garcia, Jude Law, Danny DeVito, Miloš Forman and Casey Affleck.

“Right at the start of the shoot he told me that he would prefer to improvise,” Zachariáš said of Depp’s involvement in the trailer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I was initially a bit taken aback, but it turned out to be a great idea, since Johnny ended up putting even more of his own personality into the trailer.”

“When we were done, he still wanted to chat even though a plane was waiting for him,” he added.

Festival organizers first teased the Depp trailer in May, and the event’s executive director Kryštof Mucha said, per THR, that it “turned out great.”

“Two years ago, Johnny Depp received an immensely warm welcome from audiences and fans, thanks to which he has become a great supporter of ours,” Mucha added. “And so he agreed to film a trailer even though we were limited by his packed schedule. The trailer turned out great, and I am convinced that Johnny Depp will one day return to Vary in person.”

Last month marked a year since the end of Depp’s defamation trial against Amber Heard, when a seven-person jury consisting of five men and two women reached a verdict in the Virginia trial.

Depp won all three counts of defamation over a 2018 op-ed Heard, 37, wrote about coming forward with domestic abuse claims, though she did not mention the actor by name in her article. At the time, Depp was awarded $15 million in damages, which a judge later reduced to $10.35 million.

Heard won one of her three defamation counterclaims. She was awarded $2 million in damages.

Earlier this week, Heard shared a photo of herself onstage at the 69th Taormina Film Festival in Italy, which she attended for her movie In the Fire. It marked her first film festival appearance since the contentious defamation trial.

“Thank you for such an incredibly warm reception at the Taormina Film festival for my latest movie In the Fire. It was an unforgettable weekend. #InTheFire,” Heard captioned the post.

The film’s director, Conor Allyn, told PEOPLE at the festival that “Amber has an incredibly bright future ahead,” adding, “I think In the Fire showcases her talents as an actor. I know this is something she is very proud of and it’s something we are very excited to release to the public.”

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