Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando are both actors who have helped define what it means to inhabit a character, with the latter being a pioneering force in bringing naturalistic acting to the fore in the early 1950s and the former being a name synonymous with both larger than life, swashbuckling performances and subtler, nuanced roles over a 40-year career on screen.

The two first crossed paths in the mid-1990s while making the Jeremy Leven-directed Don Juan DeMarco. They made three movies together in total, but only one ever made it to screen. Depp’s directorial debut, The Brave, was withheld from public viewing, and 1995’s Divine Rapture never made it to completion due to financial complications. The actors, however, remained friends until Brando’s death in 2004.

David Gilmour crashing his daughter’s gig in Hove and playing Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’

Perhaps drawn to each other’s professional ability to exist in both popular and counterculture simultaneously, or maybe simply a recognition of kindred wayward spirits prone to a rock ‘n roll sensibility, the actors clearly had great respect for each other. In the case of Depp, it’s an understatement to say Brando was an inspiration; hero would likely be a more fitting description.

It’s no surprise, then, that when given the chance to work alongside one of his primary influences, Depp would take any advice given to heart. “He was very, very wise,” Depp says of Brando, recalling the time they spent having conversations on set. Giving a young Depp the advice, “You gotta watch yourself. We only have so many faces in our pockets.” In response to his answer of doing “two, sometimes, three” movies in a year, it’s a piece of advice that Depp has obviously taken on board, as despite being a household name thanks to his long tenure in some hugely popular films and franchises, Depp has only ever gone over his three-movies-in-a-year threshold a handful of times.

This resonating advice comes from the performer who has given us some of the most seminal characters in cinema history, from the revolutionary Stanley Kowalski in 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire, in which it’s widely believed Brando brought the popularity of naturalistic, Stanislavsky-style acting to a burgeoning industry, to the remarkable, Don Vito Corleone in the iconic 1972 film The Godfather, in which Brando delivers one of the most quoted movie lines of all time.

A truly transformative physicality that had an obvious impact on a young Depp, who has spent his career in a variety of often outrageous, often uncanny guises. 1990’s Edward Scissorhands saw Depp transform himself into a whimsical, gothic figure and sparked a long-running collaboration with director Tim Burton. With a career-defining turn as the piratical Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise of films and bolder cosmetic choices like the 2015’s Black Mass, Depp has demonstrated an ability to have more than a few faces in his pocket.

Remarking that “all this time later I’m starting to realise how right he was,” when referring to Brando’s advice, it’s clear how much regard he still holds for his friend and acting hero words, despite Brando’s passing two decades ago.