After years of being sidelined from Hollywood’s spotlight due to his highly publicized legal battles with Amber Heard, Johnny Depp is slowly reclaiming his place in the film industry.
Rumors are swirling about a possible return as Captain Jack Sparrow, and director Tim Burton has publicly expressed his eagerness to collaborate with Depp again—signs that the actor may finally be putting his darkest chapter behind him.
But if you rewind to the very beginning of his career, you’ll find another moment Depp would rather forget: his first leading role in the 1985 teen comedy Private Resort. And he’s not shy about how he feels. In his own words, it was “possibly the stupidest movie ever made.”
Why does Johnny Depp hate his first film so much?
Before Private Resort, Depp made his film debut as a supporting character in Wes Craven’s horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), where he met a grisly end at the hands of Freddy Krueger.
Just a year later, at age 22, he landed his first starring role in Private Resort, a raunchy comedy about two young guys—Jack (Depp) and Ben (played by Rob Morrow)—trying to hook up with women during a wild vacation at a luxury Miami hotel.
The plot quickly spirals into absurdity, and the film was panned by critics and ignored by audiences. Depp has since called it “an embarrassment,” and it remains one of the most forgettable entries in his filmography.
The result is one of Depp’s biggest flops, both critically and commercially, resulting in a completely disposable film in his filmography.
The movie scores a mere 14% on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, with one reviewer describing it as a “bottom of the barrel, crass excuse for lots of nudity” – although probably worth watching just to see Depp and Morrow right at the start of their careers.
Despite being universally panned, Private Resort brought in $331,816 at the box office.
Depp isn’t the only A-lister who’s cringed at early career choices. Leonardo DiCaprio has admitted regret over some of his lesser-known roles, Arnold Schwarzenegger has poked fun at Hercules in New York, and Quentin Tarantino has been brutally honest about projects he wishes he hadn’t touched. Even Ice Cube recently slammed one of his own films as “the worst movie of the century.”
Still, Private Resort lives on—if only as a cautionary tale. For curious fans, it’s currently streaming on Prime Video.
As Depp’s career rebounds and new opportunities emerge, it’s clear that even Hollywood legends have skeletons in their cinematic closets. And sometimes, those skeletons wear Hawaiian shirts and chase girls around a hotel pool.
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