The character of Captain Jack Sparrow immediately comes to mind for many fans of Johnny Depp‘s work, but there’s actually a character he’s played far more than the Pirates of the Caribbean icon. A dedicated actor, Depp often vanishes into his roles, committing himself completely to each performance. While Jack Sparrow might be Depp’s most famous character, the amount of times he’s reprised the role pales in comparison when compared with his most-played role.

Granted, Depp has appeared as Jack in every Pirates of the Caribbean movie to date – a streak that will likely be broken whenever the next installment in the franchise appears. However, that’s still just five films. It’s impressive to be asked back for four more movies in the same franchise, and it’s not an honor that many actors receive, but Depp’s varied filmography has resulted in a surprising character taking his top spot in terms of appearances. What’s even more shocking is that out of every Johnny Depp movie, he’s only played the role once.

Johnny Depp Has Voiced Johnny Puff 92 Times (All In Arctic Dogs Spinoffs)

Johnny Puff got his own movie in 2024

Not many will hold 2019’s Arctic Dogs in particularly high regard – if they even remember it. Despite having some fairly big names among its voice cast – such as Jeremy Renner – the animated movie was a huge box office bomb. However, it spawned a surprising number of spinoff projects, three of which managed to snag Johnny Depp. The actor lent his voice to the animated puffin for 70 episodes of Puffins between 2020 and 2021, then 21 episodes of Puffins Impossible between 2021 and 2022. 2024’s Johnny Puff: Secret Mission movie meant Depp voiced the character for the 92nd time.

Depp’s role as Johnny Puff is made even more unusual by the fact that he speaks in a made-up language when he voices the character.

The Arctic Dogs spinoffs aren’t particularly sophisticated entertainment and are aimed at very young viewers. In fact, Depp’s role as Johnny Puff is made even more unusual by the fact that he speaks in a made-up language when he voices the character. A name like Depp is a very big get for a project like this, and the producers have repaid the actor in kind by designing Johnny Puff in a way that references his famous pirate character. Of course, there’s also the matter of the character sharing the same first name as his voice actor.

Depp Has Played Another Character More Often Than Jack Sparrow

21 Jump Street had Depp playing a main character throughout the show

With Johnny Puff boasting the number one spot for the most-reprised role from the actor, one would be forgiven for assuming that Jack Sparrow came in second place – albeit a distant second place. Interestingly, Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean persona is actually third on the list. Second place goes to Depp’s character in the 21 Jump Street TV show, Officer Tom Hanson.

Depp played Hanson in 82 episodes between 1987 and 1990 but also returned to briefly reprise the role in 2012’s comedy reboot movie that shared the same name as the show.

Depp played Hanson in 82 episodes between 1987 and 1990 but also returned to briefly reprise the role in 2012’s comedy reboot movie that shared the same name as the show. This brought his total to 83 appearances. So, while Johnny Puff is undeniably Depp’s most-played character, Officer Hanson is the persona that the actor has slipped into the most in a live-action setting. Even if Depp did somehow return to play Jack Sparrow a few more times, the chance of the character moving up the rankings is incredibly slim.

Johnny Depp Returns To Roles Surprisingly Infrequently

Gellert Grindelwald was a rare chance for Depp to gain another highly recognizable returning character

Considering Johnny Depp’s immense success throughout his career, it’s something of a surprise that there aren’t more repeat characters with which he’s so strongly associated. There’s no denying that Jack Sparrow is the most popular Johnny Depp character, but given how long he’s been acting and how many projects he’s appeared in, the fact he’s only reprised a handful of roles is quite surprising. It could even be argued that Johnny Puff and Tom Hanson don’t really count, as they were both parts of continuous runs, whereas Jack Sparrow meant an active return for Depp each time.

Depp did have a chance at being remembered for the ongoing reprisal of another iconic character, and fairly recently. After appearing briefly as Gellert Grindelwald at the end of 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, he returned to his Harry Potter character for the 2018 sequel. Unfortunately, a behind-the-scenes scenario caused him to be dropped from the third movie of the trilogy, with Mads Mikkelsen being recast as Grindelwald. The final movie did significantly worse at the box office than the previous two, so it’s possible that Johnny Depp‘s continued involvement could have helped the prequel saga continue.