Johnny Depp Points to Sunset Rubdown as His Mad Hatter Inspiration

BY Alex HudsonPublished Feb 26, 2010

By including the words "Sunset Rubdown" and "Johnny Depp" in the same sentence, we've probably already doubled our Google hits. (Hi ladies!)

The reason for this fortuitous combination of words came during a recent interview with CBS News [via The Tripwire], in which Depp explained that his recent turn as the Mad Hatter was inspired by Canadian indie rock outfit Sunset Rubdown.

Speaking to The Early Show about his role in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (due out March 5), he revealed, "I get musical inspiration for the characters. Like for example, there was a band - actually, Terry Gilliam turned me on to this band - called Sunset Rubdown. It was a great few songs on there that just defined the Hatter for me perfectly."

He didn't reveal which album he was listening to, but The Playlist speculated that it was likely Random Spirit Lover, based on when Alice in Wonderland was filmed (summer/fall 2008).

This isn't the first time that Depp has drawn inspiration from rock'n'roll. In fact, this story is similar to his explanation that Captain Jack Sparrow (from the Pirates of the Caribbean films) was based on Keith Richards.

In related news, Johnny Depp recently contributed guitar to Shane McGowan's cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins's "I Put a Spell on You," for which all proceeds will be donated to Concern Worldwide's Haiti relief efforts. The Pogues front-man recruited an all-star cast for the song, including Nick Cave, the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, the Sex Pistols' Glen Matlock, the Clash's Mick Jones, and others. You can check out the video below, which includes footage from the recording sessions.

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