Johnny Depp talks about playing the undead in Dark Shadows

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The considerable fanbase of the long-running supernatural soap DARK SHADOWS shouldn’t be too concerned about Johnny Depp’s portrayal of sympathetic bloodsucker Barnabas Collins.

Depp, himself a huge fan of the show (the actor has been trying for years to make the film version), has every intention of honoring the original. “For me, even the conversations I’ve had with [director Tim Burton], what Jonathan Frid did with that character and that classic look he created, I find it very difficult to stray very far from that,” Depp tells MTV.

Frid played Barnabas on the series from 1967-1971 (the character didn’t appear until after 200 episodes), and despite the 90s portrayal by Ben Cross, he will be forever ingrained in the minds of fans as that character. And Depp is well aware of that fact. “There’s something about this vampire coming back after 200 years into this modern world, with a touch of the poetic, with maybe a tendency to maybe wax a little poetic now and again,” he said. “I have a good feeling about it. But Jonathan Frid’s Barnabas was so special.”

The movie begins production in April, with Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley and Bella Heathcoate joining Depp’s vampire for the spooky times.