Johnny Depp: Made Disney Nervous With His Flamboyant Portrayal of Capt. Jack Sparrow

Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Capt. Jack Sparrow in Disney’s blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean and its two sequels was good enough to earn the actor an Oscar no nomination for best actor.

But Depp, the cover story in the new Vanity Fair, that some Disney executives were initially skittish over his over-the-top flamboyant portrayal.

“They couldn’t stand him,” he tells rocker Patti Smith who did the interview. “They just couldn’t stand him. I think it was Michael Eisner, the head of Disney at the time, who was quoted as saying, ‘He’s ruining the movie.’ Upper-echelon Disney-ites, going, What’s wrong with him? Is he, you know, like some kind of weird simpleton? Is he drunk? By the way, is he gay?… And so I actually told this woman who was the Disney-ite… ‘But didn’t you know that all my characters are gay?’ Which really made her nervous.”

As we all know, it turned out well for everybody!

Glee: Is Darren Criss Here to Stay?

The suave, openly gay Blaine on the hit Fox series Glee is rumored to become a regular character for the show's third season.

Darren Criss is in talks to become a series regular, according to Entertainment Weekly. Blaine was originally intended to be a recurring character, and has become the object of Kurt's affection.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Criss said that while he feels close to gay people as a student of the theater, he is not gay and must often admit that he's straight.

"I was inadvertently raised in the 'gay community,'" he said. "I had straight parents, but I spent massive amounts of time at a very early age with gay, theater-hopeful thirty-somethings. And those were the people I spent time with early on, so my whole perception of 'sexuality' just wasn't there. It just ... was. It even got to the point where, later in life ... I had all the components in place. I was, well, not super effeminate, but I was into girly things — I liked musical theater, all the stereotypical things. I had to come out and say, well, I'm sorry, but I think I’m straight. And people were like, say it ain’t so! And I would say, 'It's been a secret too long, but I’m actually a straight male.'"

Cher Still Calls Chaz 'Her' by Mistake

Cher is having a pronoun problem when it comes to her daughter-turned-son Chaz Bono.

"She's a very smart girl – boy!" the singer tells Vanity Fair in its December issue. "This is where I get into trouble. … I still don't remember to call her 'him.' "

Chaz, 41 – born Chastity Bono – underwent gender reassignment last year, a process he said made him "a happy guy." But Cher admits she still can't quite wrap her mind around the idea of suddenly becoming a man.

"If I woke up tomorrow in a guy's body, I would just kick and scream and cry and [expletive] rob a bank, because I cannot see myself as anything but who I am – a girl," she says. "I would not take it as well as Chaz has. I couldn't imagine it."

In the interview, Cher, 64, also touches on her inadequacies as a parent, and whether her kids – she has another son, Elijah, now 34, with ex-husband Gregg Allman – are still angry with her.

"I think Chaz is pretty much finished with it, and I think Elijah has a little longer to go, but they both really love me a lot. But it's hard," she says.

"One time, when Chaz was little, we were on a field trip, and she said, 'I'm so pissed off, Mom. You can never not be Cher – we can never just do something.' So your kids pay. I did the best I could do, and yet it was definitely lacking."

Chord Overstreet Talks to Vanity Fair About Glee

Did everyone enjoy the season premiere of Glee on Wednesday night? If you watched it, then you had the pleasure of meeting their newest student, played by Chord Overstreet.

He plays transfer student Sam Evans and he has replaced Finn (Cory Monteith) as starting quarterback at McKinley High and is rumored to be the new love interest for Kurt (Chris Colfer who was barely seen this episode).

Vanity Fair has a new Q&A with the young actor which helps us get to know him a bit better. Here are some excerpts:

Q. Tell me about how you got the part on Glee. Every cast member I’ve talked to has a crazy story about auditioning for some other part, or starting out as background scenery and ending up earning a role. Please tell me you have a really exciting anecdote where you were auditioning to be a Cheerio or Sue’s spectacularly handsome son.

A. I was actually auditioning to be Sue’s (Jane Lynch’s) stand-in—because we have the same color hair. I’m kidding. I auditioned for my part. I got a call from my agent one day and he asked if I could do an audition for Glee in like 30 minutes. So I grabbed my guitar and ran over there. There were so many people in the casting office they weren’t even having anyone read the sides, they were just having people play a song. So I played one, and they asked me to come back and talk to the casting agent. Then I played again. Then they asked me to walk out and “discreetely” get my sides, and come back and read. I was there for, like, five hours. Then I went home and they called and asked me to come back and sing two songs a capella. And then I sang two songs for the studio test and two for the network test. This was like at 9:30 at night. A week later I found out I got the part.

One thing I did discover on the internet is your online resume in which you are described as being six feet tall, 160 pounds, and having an “Athletic” build. Having (repeatedly) watched your shower scene in the Glee season premiere, this all seems quite accurate. Do you have a rather intense workout routine, or do you just do a lot of choreographed dancing, jazzercise, and the like?

Well, I do like two or three hours at a time in the gym. I was there last night. I just did chest and abs and triceps. Flat bench for two sets of 100 reps each on a light weight, then fifteen reps of four sets of really heavy weight. Then I did my push ups. Then I did this thing with pulleys and the weights attached, which is like an exercise for your chest. Then running. Then an hour of abs.

An hour of abs?!

You got to look good for the ladies. And for all those guys who want to see your body. If I’m going to be on national T.V. without my shirt on, I’ve got to look good.

Well, Chord. You succeeded.

Thank you.

Now, of course, the question everyone wants to know is if the rumors that you will become Kurt’s boyfriend on the show are accurate?

I actually don’t know that yet. We get everything an episode at a time. As of what we’ve shot now, they haven’t revealed anything about my character in a relationship way. But I think we’ll find out soon enough.

There is rumored to be man-on-man kissing. You’d be down with that?

I don’t know if I would be totally down with that outside of work. I’ve never kissed a guy before. But it’s acting. It’s kind of one of those things. Currently you have to kiss a bunch of strange people in the world of film and television.

You have to kiss a bunch of strange people?

Throughout your whole career, there’s a bunch of people you might have to kiss. Say there’s this character opposite you, and you might not be into her—or him, personally. You just gotta’ do it. That’s your job.

And beyond? You’re willing to go full Brokeback?

I have no idea. I’m going to say, no comment. I’m going to dig myself in a hole.

Lady Gaga: Sex, Drugs – and Grandma?

If it wasn't for her grandmother, Lady Gaga might not be the huge star she is today.

"All I will say is I hit rock bottom, and it was enough to send a person over the edge," the music phenom, 24, tells Vanity Fair for its September issue. When it came to her drug use, says Gaga (real name: Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta), "My mom knew the truth … she said, 'I'm coming to get you.' "

Together, mother and daughter went to Gaga's 82-year-old grandmother's house in West Virginia.

"I cried. I told her I thought my life was over and I have no hope and I've worked so hard, and I knew I was good," the star recalls. "What would I do now? And she said, 'I'm gonna let you cry for a few more hours. And then after those few hours are up, you're gonna stop crying, you're gonna pick yourself up, you're gonna go back to New York, and you're gonna kick some ass.' "

Gaga, who's known for looking after her fans, also made sure to issue a warning that her "little monsters" don't copy her behavior.

"I do not want my fans to ever emulate that or be that way," she says. "I don't want my fans to think they have to be that way to be great. It's in the past. It was a low point, and it led to disaster."

On the personal front, Gaga admits that she's drawn to relationships that can also have disastrous consequences.

"I'm drawn to bad romances," she says. "And my song ["Bad Romance"] is about whether I go after those [sort of relationships] or if they find me. I'm perpetually lonely. I'm lonely when I'm in relationships. It's my condition as an artist."

What's more, "I have this weird thing that if I sleep with someone they're going to take my creativity from me through my vagina," says the uncensored star. "I'm quite celibate now."

Angelina Jolie Doesn't Want Too Big of a Family

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have built a large family, and despite the rumors, it's not likely to get too much bigger – as the actress is concerned about having enough time for each child as they grow up.

Asked if she and Pitt want a seventh child, Jolie, 35, tells Vanity Fair: "We're not opposed to it. But we want to make sure we can give everybody special time."

It's easy when they're small, she says, and don't require much emotional support. But as they get older, "they're going to need a lot more talking in the middle of the night, like I did with my mom for hours. We want to make sure we don't build a family so big that we don't have absolutely enough time to raise them each really well."

The children's personalities are all blooming, Jolie says – particularly Shiloh, who turned 4 last month and seems to be taking her cues from big brothers Maddox and Pax. "She likes to dress like a boy. She wants to be a boy," Jolie says. "So, we had to cut her hair. She likes to wear boys' everything. She thinks she's one of the brothers."

Among the other kids, Maddox is the intellectual, while Zahara has "an extraordinary voice and is just so elegant and well spoken." And the twins, Knox and Vivienne, who will turn 2 next month, "are classic boy and girl," Jolie says. "She's really female. And he's really a little dude."

While family has clearly become Jolie's top priority, acting has become a secondary pursuit – one she might give up entirely in the not-too-distant future. "I don't think I'll do it much longer," she says. "Because I have a happy home. ... I got back from work last night, and everybody was playing music and dancing, and I suddenly found myself dancing around with a bunch of little fun crazy people."

And what about finally getting married to Pitt, 46, her longtime partner? Also not an issue on the front burner. They're not against it, Jolie says, but "it's just like we already are. Children are clearly a commitment, a bigger commitment [than marriage]. It's for life."

First Look! Vanity Fair's Soccer Themed Cover

For the June issue of Vanity Fair, Annie Leibovitz set out to capture some of soccer’s biggest stars, including Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o, and Brazil’s Kaká.

Leibovitz’s portraits are, well, revealing. And underwear has never looked so patriotic!

In America, these men might not enjoy the same name recognition as the stars of the NFL but for most of the planet, they are more than just showstoppers. They are gods.

Would America Really Support a Gay President?

According to a new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll at least 50 % of Americans would support an openly gay president, whereas only 44% said they would opposed.

The poll also surveyed on how people feel about having openly gay men and women serve in other public positions such as Supreme Court Justices, Secretary of States, and professional sports commissioners. Of the nearly 1000 adults surveyed, 62 % said they would support an openly gay Superbowl quarterback, which was the question that received the highest approval approval rating.

So are American attitudes changing? Is all the anti-gay rhetoric about how a majority of Americans don’t support LGBT rights and equality simply hyperbole from the religious right?

Read more about the survey on Vanity Fair.

'Raw' Tiger Woods Shots on Cover of Vanity Fair

Tiger Woods remains hidden from the cameras, but readers will get an eyeful of the embattled golf star in the February issue of Vanity Fair.

The cover shot shows a bare-chested Woods in a black cap lifting weights. The magazine promises more images of "a raw, unguarded Woods" taken by Annie Leibovitz before the scandal hit, when the issue reaches newsstands on Wednesday.

At http://www.vanityfair.com/, Leibovitz had this to say about the images: "Tiger is an intensely competitive athlete – and quite serious about his sport. I wanted to reveal that in these photos. And to show his incredible focus and dedication."

Hemsworth Brothers Take Vanity Fair

Chris Hemsworth leans on his younger brother Liam Hemsworth in this sexy new shot from Vanity Fair.

The actor brothers (26 and 19 respectively) were raised in southern Australia and currently reside in California. They both screen tested for the title role of the superhero flick Thor but the part ultimately went to Chris (out Summer 2011).

Liam can next be seen as the romantic lead opposite Miley Cyrus in The Last Song (the relationship carried over off-screen as they were spotted holding hands and kissing just days ago).

Chris started off on the Aussie soap opera Home and Away and got his first Hollywood break as the doomed father of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine). He next takes the lead in the upcoming remake of Red Dawn, which deals with an invasion of the United States by the Soviet Union and its Central American allies.

Look hot Hollywood, the Hemsworth brothers are taking the silver screen by storm!

Robert Pattinson Covers Vanity Fair

Robert Pattinson opens up to Vanity Fair in the magazine’s December issue.

The 23-year-old Twilight star opened up about almost giving up on acting, how Twilight changed his life and how he’s handling his newfound fame. Here’s what Rob had to share with VF…

On costar Kristen Stewart: “I think she’s the best young actress around. She’s influenced how I’ve done all the Twilight stuff. It’s quite nice to have someone who is genuinely indifferent to the whole spectacle of everything.”

On his newfound fame: “I’m trying not to drown. I guess I’m not the type of guy cut out to do a franchise. I’m not much of a crowd person.”

On trying modeling as a career: “I was such a terrible model. I was really tall but still looked like a six-year-old.”

Vanity Fair hits newsstands in New York and L.A. on Wednesday, November 4th and Tuesday, November 10th nationwide.

Ryan O'Neal: I Should Have Been MuchKinder to Farrah

Speaking publicly for the first time since the death of his longtime partner Farrah Fawcett on June 25, Ryan O'Neal says he wishes he could have a second shot at the 30-year relationship, and wonders if his own sometimes cruel character somehow led to her fateful illness.

The grieving actor, 68, tells Vanity Fair in its September issue (on sale Aug. 5) that he'd love to "do it over," given the chance, and in the process would change some unpleasant flaws in himself that caused Fawcett pain. "I would have been much kinder, more understanding, more mature," he says. "I'd lose some of the savagery. I don't know how she got cancer; maybe some of it was me."

O'Neal and Fawcett split up in 1998 after a tumultuous 20 years, and reconnected in 2001, after he was diagnosed with leukemia. O'Neal blames that split on, among other things, her menopause – and his own lack of sympathy.

"I believe Farrah was going through some kind of life change," he tells the magazine, which has Fawcett on the cover of half the September issues and pop star Michael Jackson on the cover of the other half. "I didn't have a change of life. I was always a jerk. But they're hard work, these divas; I was sick of it, and I was unappreciated. I just don't think she liked me very much. So I excused myself."

He adds: "We pulled apart, but we never popped loose."

O'Neal says his deficiencies extend beyond his relationship with Fawcett, calling himself a "hopeless father" and relating one disturbing incident from Fawcett's funeral.

"I had just put the casket in the hearse and I was watching it drive away when a beautiful blonde woman comes up and embraces me," said O'Neal. "I said to her, 'You have a drink on you? You have a car?' She said, 'Daddy, it's me – Tatum!' I was just trying to be funny with a strange Swedish woman, and it's my daughter. It's so sick."

Vanity Fair on the Last Days of Heath Ledger

The world is mourning the death of Michael Jackson who died at 50 and of Farrah Fawcett who died at 62. Both seemed to be gone too soon.

Then you think of Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight star Heath Ledger, just 28 when he died last year. That was really too soon. Vanity Fair has Heath on the cover of its August issue and the article inside offers new details into his life near the end.

Here are some of the highlights:

How his relationship failed

Terry Gilliam—Ledger’s friend and mentor, and the director of Doctor Parnassus—agrees with cinematographer Nicola Pecorini, who worked with Ledger on that last film, that the romance between Ledger and Michelle Williams began to unravel during the Oscar campaign for Brokeback Mountain. “The whole machinery started growing up around them,” Gilliam says. “That was the moment when it changed, when he realized, Uh-oh. We perceive the world differently. He didn’t care about things like those awards.”

According to Pecorini, “Heath was always blaming himself [about the relationship], asking, What did I do wrong?” Adds Gilliam, “Because he’s a much nicer person than I am, he really thought he could do the right thing. He was trying to be decent and graceful, give her whatever she wanted—the house, every fucking thing. But once it started going south, it went very quickly. He was overwhelmed by lawyers, and there were more and more of them, as if they were breeding. I said, ‘This is bullshit. Heath, just end it. Get out—it’s bad. You’ve got to just walk away from it.’ The stakes kept going up. He wouldn’t listen to any of us.”

As Ledger’s relationship with Williams unraveled, and the pair started dealing with lawyers and custody issues, according to Gilliam, Ledger fell apart. “The thing that really made Heath snap” was legal wrangling over his daughter, Matilda, Gilliam says. “He said, ‘Just fuck all of you! I’m not giving Michelle anything.’???” Recalls another source, when it came to Matilda’s care, “there were definitely heated conversations, and emotions were high.” (Ledger’s lawyer declined to comment on any aspect of the separation or custody dispute.)

How chronic insomnia may have led to his death

Ledger’s use of sleeping medication to combat chronic insomnia at the end of his life was of more concern to vocal coach Gerry Grennell, who worked and lived with the actor during the filming of The Dark Knight. “I’d say, ‘If you can possibly bear it to stop taking the medications, do, because they don’t seem to be doing you any good.’ He agreed. It is very difficult for me to imagine how close he came to not taking them.”

Ledger would typically spend night after night awake, diverting himself with time killers, Vanity Fair contributing editor Peter Biskind reports, such as re-arranging the furniture in whatever space he happened to be living in at the moment. Grennell coached him in the Alexander Technique, which helped him to sleep for a few hours at a time, but he still struggled.

“Everyone has a different view of how he passed away,” Grennell tells Biskind. “From my perspective, and knowing him as well as I did, and being around him as much as I was, it was a combination of exhaustion, sleeping medication … and perhaps the aftereffects of the flu. I guess his body just stopped breathing.”

Madonna goes Solo to Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Madonna brought out the big guns and shows off her muscles while arriving at the 2009 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter held at the Sunset Tower in West Hollywood on Sunday.

Madonna went "solo" to the party after many published reports that she would be bringing her latest boy toy, Jesus Luz, as her date.

It is evident on the picture that the 50-year-old actress has continued to work out hard to maintain her physique!

Madonna recently sent clothes previously belonging to her 3-year-old, David Banda, to his former orphanage in Malawai according to People.

In receiving the clothes, the orphanage said, “These are clothes David can no longer use; they say he is quite a big boy now so he cannot use most of the clothes Madonna bought him immediately after he was adopted. The children were excited to receive the clothes!”

Trophy Jesus

Brand new Kabbahalist Jesus will get to off his shiny red string this Sunday, because he will be Madonna's official guest at Vanity Fair's Oscar party.

OK! Magazine says Madonna and her "child" boy toy have been planning their coming out party all week. A source said, "Madonna is planning on using the Vanity Fair party to introduce Jesus to the world as her new boyfriend, and she wants everything to be perfect!"

We're sure the paparazzi will be all over this story and plenty of "candid" shots will be appearing a blog near you.