Shadowing Practice: The Best Johnny Depp Moments | David Letterman - Learn English Speaking with Video
Choose a practice mode
Each mode opens a full-screen practice room.
871 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
Good to see you, Johnny.
2
How are you doing?
3
Nice to see you.
4
Yeah, I'm all right.
5
You, uh, I watched your, uh, movie.
6
I, uh, I don't want to seem goofy about this, but I enjoy, uh, watching you in films because you never know when you're going to pull some stuff.
7
You know what I mean?
8
As an actor, it's fascinating to watch you, and that's what you want.
9
That's kind of been the problem with my career for...
10
No, no, no. You know what I was thinking about was the, uh, I think the first time I saw you on the big screen was in the Edward Scissorhands thing.
11
Yeah.
12
How long...
13
How long ago was that?
14
That's been 20 years, hasn't it, at this point?
15
That has been 20 years.
16
Yeah, and it was odd, kind of an odd film, wasn't it?
17
Yeah.
18
Yeah, in some ways.
19
But you liked working with Tim Burton?
20
Yeah, very much.
21
We've done a number now over the years.
22
Of all the directors, you can't really say whose work you prefer, but you guys are symbiotic.
23
Is that right? we've developed a shorthand
24
that just sort of works somehow where did where did you make
25
that movie uh Tampa Florida yeah now how did how did they uh get you was
26
that that's that uh leather thing with the yeah yeah there's a tremendous amount of leather
27
and yeah was it it must have been godly uncomfortable right oh it was hideous yeah
28
and as an actor can you get to a point where
29
you can can act without being aware of this horrific costume oh no no yeah no
30
because you're basically bound up like an old sea trunk yeah you know uh in in leather
31
and rubber and things like
32
that oh it could be somebody's sunday night yeah what hello a sunday night a sunday night
33
yeah it was uncomfortable
34
so how long would they leave you in the suit i mean it would have to take breaks
35
and hose you with shaved ice, wouldn't they?
36
Yeah, they'd drag me down the slip and slide.
37
Yeah, no, it was pretty much an all -day affair.
38
Yeah, and it was a health hazard.
39
You could overheat, I'm sure.
40
I did overheat a few times, especially there was a scene in the film where I'm being chased by the cops,
41
and I have to run a great distance down the street in this very strange little neighborhood.
42
on about the ninth take uh i was overheating pretty seriously
43
and uh i took a detour uh to the side of someone's house
44
and i uh you know and i let loose now mr depp when you say you let loose
45
tell the jury exactly what are we talking about i uh
46
i up chucked yeah well you're here on a good night buddy did you uh
47
when you were a kid starting out uh like actors uh
48
guys who are iconic uh like like well james dean you didn't know james dean of course
49
but you must have enjoyed his work
50
and like marlon brando you met marlon brando i think right
51
yeah i know him very well yeah i'm very lucky yeah
52
what was it like uh have a good friend who was
53
such a great actor uh any any hints any advice from
54
him yeah i mean a lot you know he he basically
55
had the the uh the great gift of not really caring now is
56
that a good thing for an actor oh yeah i think that's the best thing you could
57
and why because then you don't you don't you don't put
58
so much pressure on yourself i suppose and
59
that you're able to stay relaxed in the scene and
60
so you just sort of let the part overcome you
61
or you overcome the part
62
but you don't have to think about it's not calculated is what you're saying no exactly yeah yeah yeah
63
and and uh had he he must have seen your work and enjoyed it
64
i don't i don't know yeah i'm not sure
65
i know you don't you don't like to go to your own films do you yeah yeah why
66
and why is that um it makes me feel unpleasant you know we're selling tickets now
67
that's why that's why people don't watch this show make them feel unpleasant is I mean are you self -conscious
68
when you see your on the big screen I'd rather walk away with the experience of, you know, the process of making the film.
69
But I don't, you know, once they give me the boot, it's really none of my business.
70
So you feel your responsibility is only in your craft, making the movie top to bottom, and that's it.
71
Yeah.
72
Well, I think that's wise.
73
I mean, really, beyond that, you've done your part.
74
Oh, yeah, I mean, you know, I'm done.
75
Now, what about your family?
76
I bet they see your films.
77
I think they do, yeah.
78
My kids have seen, I think my kids have actually seen more of my films than I have.
79
How old are your kids?
80
uh eight and eleven now eight oh eight years old oh yeah
81
incredible is it jack who's eight years old jack is eight
82
lily rose is 11 yeah see i'm i just have the one harry who has just turned seven
83
and uh i don't know what it's like when you have two kids
84
but having one kid
85
and just watching him slip into he used to be just three months old yeah
86
and now he's seven i i can't stand it yeah no
87
mine too i remember we have a picture here with uh
88
well here's a cute little girl now this is not your daughter what is this we're looking at johnny
89
that is a that's a little girl named beatrice at a school in greenwich um london london south london
90
she wrote me this really darling like a beautiful letter and asked if we would come to the school and, uh, mutiny.
91
Really?
92
She writes you a letter saying, come to the school and help us overthrow the administration.
93
That was essentially it, yeah.
94
Wow, well, what was her essential complaint?
95
She didn't really have any, you know.
96
She had general mayhem for no reason.
97
So you show up, uh, and what happened then?
98
We were filming about, you know, It's 300 yards away from the school and got the letter and I thought we have to,
99
you know, I've got to do this.
100
So we gave the school about five minutes warning, asking if they would assemble the kids.
101
They did.
102
And we went in there and the reaction was a little mixed.
103
You know, there was shock, you know, confusion.
104
Some kids were very happy, you know, there was elation.
105
and uh and uh some kids were scared real scared yeah there's there's always a few
106
always a few when it comes time to mutiny get cold feet you can always count on
107
that uh but that must have been a great thing you do you do more of
108
that than i i'd never heard about this you you do a lot of this
109
so don't you well i don't know a lot
110
but you do it every now and then i do like to do
111
that sort of thing you know for the kiddies it's it's nice to be able to give back
112
and and uh
113
and say thanks you know well good for you in a
114
particular way in a special way that's very sweet yeah i
115
feel very lucky to be able to do it yeah
116
and uh where is your family where do you guys all
117
live now we're we're basically transient at the moment yeah yeah we're just sort of yeah it's been a
118
while in france are you still yeah still spending time in france
119
los angeles and then wherever location is yeah and
120
and the kids i think we probably talked about this they
121
must speak french right oh yeah yeah perfectly well that's pretty cool yeah it's great
122
so when you're in france is that the language they choose
123
or is it back and forth what do you do they do they're able to go back
124
and forth so quickly you know
125
and then i get stuck in situations where i have to um speak french
126
and then my kids correct me and make fun of me yeah
127
yeah that's what kids do though isn't it yeah uh i i mean it must be are they at
128
that stage now where they they know how cool it is
129
that Johnny Depp is their father I don't we've never talked about
130
that I don't I don't think I don't know I think you know I'm just dad
131
but there will come a point
132
when oh yeah well you know sure your dad owns a Dairy Queen but my dad is Johnny Depp you know
133
boy this uh this movie it uh shot principally i think uh unless it's cgi
134
and i don't even know what
135
that means where do i you don't know what it is
136
either no uh in venice yes oh my god how long
137
were you in venice wonderful uh three months a little over
138
three months beautiful place yeah fantastic what time of year were
139
you there um i think i don't remember actually i think it was Sometime around March -ish.
140
So it's probably not so crowded in March with tourists and such.
141
Uh, there were probably more paparazzi than tourists, to be honest, yeah.
142
It must drive you nuts, right?
143
It's pretty weird.
144
Yeah.
145
Yeah.
146
I have to, I have to take my own pictures and send them in.
147
It's just awful.
148
Now, look at this.
149
Look at this.
150
This is exactly what I was talking about.
151
Is that the dog?
152
Yes.
153
That's like an English bull terrier something -something?
154
Yeah.
155
It's an enormous muscle.
156
How much does that beast weigh?
157
I -I'd venture to say somewhere in the neighborhood of 175 pounds.
158
Oh, my God.
159
You and, uh, uh, Al Pacino, uh, work together, and, uh, Donnie Brasco?
160
Yes.
161
Yeah, boy, that's...
162
Every time I, you know, I see that and you can't not watch it.
163
Don't make any difference where you get into that movie.
164
You gotta continue.
165
But you've probably never seen that one either, have you?
166
Uh, no. Yeah.
167
What was Al like?
168
I bet that was a good combination for you.
169
Al's fantastic.
170
I mean, Al is, you know, he's a legend.
171
He's Al Pacino.
172
He's an amazing actor, certainly.
173
But, you know, the one thing I didn't really know about Pacino prior to the shooting was that he was certifiably insane.
174
Oh, really?
175
You've seen the paperwork, apparently.
176
How does
177
that manifest itself? uh he had you know he like uh
178
he's a he's a he's a joke he likes to tell
179
like to tell jokes yeah yeah he likes to tell jokes
180
and he liked to tell me this one specific joke over and over
181
and uh i really didn't understand it didn't get the joke i didn't get the joke yeah
182
and he thought it was your problem
183
that you didn't get the job absolutely yeah yeah yeah yeah
184
and we definitely thought it was my problem
185
so he keeps wearing you down with the same joke inflicted it upon me and and I could feel like, you know, IQ points dropping.
186
Yeah, the greater the pressure, the dumber you feel.
187
I know, yeah.
188
You know, go kind of jello -like.
189
Yeah.
190
Did you ever understand the joke?
191
I finally figured it out, yeah.
192
What, do you remember the joke?
193
Yeah.
194
Okay.
195
Here's Al, he used to, he'd lean over and he'd go,
196
So, John, skeleton goes into a bar,
197
orders a beer, and a mop.
198
but i mean yeah i know on a loop yeah over and over
199
and over again i must say you kind of expect a
200
little more from al pacino i don't i'm kind of on your side here i get it
201
but i don't want to admit
202
that i get it he would how oh you would how every time he told the joke wow oh my goodness
203
but now when you
204
when you work with guys do you do you buddy with
205
people do you get close do you make lifelong friendships after you've worked with them
206
because it's really a kind of a foxhole mentality especially on
207
a location isn't it yes i mean sometimes yeah sometimes you do sometimes Sometimes you don't.
208
Sometimes you can't get out of there quick enough, but no, I mean, I've been so lucky with the majority of people I've worked with, I've remained very close friends, you know.
209
Well, that's great.
210
And I'm guessing, well, this is impossible for you to respond to, but I'm guessing you're the kind of fellow whose career
211
and ability represents the sort of person a lot of people would enjoy working with at this point.
212
I don't know.
213
Yeah.
214
Yeah.
215
How did the.. had you ever been in a film with Angelina Jolie before?
216
No, we'd never met before this.
217
Had never met?
218
No, never met, no. And what about Brad Pitt?
219
Had you met him?
220
Brad and I had met many years ago.
221
He actually did an episode of 21 Jump Street back in the late 80s.
222
Did you like being on that show?
223
no no i mean i i i i can appreciate what it was
224
and what it would i mean what it did for me
225
but uh but it was no i didn't what was it was it what was it from
226
that show that tim burton said oh this might be the guy for edward scissors hand i don't think
227
so no no so but you knew brad pitt and
228
and friendly with with Brad and yeah yeah yeah and
229
and the were I see I would be nervous about working with Angelina Jolie
230
because you know she's I think comparable
231
and status stature not stature status to you what were you nervous about
232
that and then also you know her husband and stuff is
233
that well no I didn't mean no she cuz she's she's very she's a very grant will down to sweet,
234
smart, funny girl, and she's very, yeah, normal.
235
And then there's a scene where there's some, I don't want to say intimacy, but there's some, you know, first base kind of stuff.
236
I don't know.
237
I don't know what I'm talking about.
238
Eh, never mind, who cares? now how is it
239
that you end up with the dog i i remember it as a some species of a dare you know
240
and uh we were you know having dinner and i think there was a little wine involved And they said,
241
you know what, you ought to take, you should take Jacques, you know.
242
Jacques is the dog?
243
Jacques, yeah. Should have known them.
244
Yeah.
245
So yeah, Jacques, you should take him to your room.
246
We were in my hotel.
247
So I said, yeah, yeah, sure, I'll watch the dog for the night.
248
And it all seemed fine.
249
The only problem I saw was that the dog reeks.
250
I mean, it absolutely stinks like a...
251
I mean real bad real bad yes and
252
so I thought okay I can get through that for the night
253
and everything would be okay so we we you know me
254
and a couple of the guys who work with me we hoist the dog onto the bed
255
because it is about 175 good Lord pounds we hoisted up there we get it up there I thinking everything is fine.
256
They split, and I lean over to take my boots off,
257
and 175 pounds of girth is hurled at me,
258
which feels like about 300 pounds now.
259
In motion, sure.
260
In motion, because it's really, it's coming at me hard,
261
and it's a friendly pass,
262
but it's unwanted nonetheless I did nothing to instigate I understand sure
263
he was prepared to have his way with me well
264
okay yeah that's something to take with you to bed tonight just think about
265
that uh let's take a look at the uh the film
266
this is um one of those things where you watch it
267
and again i don't know how much i can say about it
268
because uh i don't want people to say oh nice going you ruined the movie uh
269
but you you play a math teacher uh
270
and just a guy uh on vacation we we think yes yeah right yes that's what i remember yeah Yeah,
271
and then a couple of times during the movie, you're questioning yourself about that.
272
I was.
273
You were questioning yourself?
274
Yeah, about whether, is he just a math teacher?
275
Oh.
276
Right?
277
Yeah.
278
That's pretty much the, that's it.
279
And then Angelina's in there as well.
280
Angelina's, yeah.
281
That's right.
282
It's just about a guy who may or may not be a math teacher.
283
And oh, my God, she's goddess -like in this.
284
She is.
285
Yeah, you should...
286
I know you won't, but you should see it.
287
No, I won't.
288
I won't.
289
So let's, Johnny, if you can, tell us what we're going to see from this clip.
290
It's called The Tourist, and it opens on Friday
291
and it would be an enormous uh movie what are we gonna see here i have no idea
292
it's a this will be a clip from a film called the tourist
293
good to see you nice to see you little johnny strikes
294
up the band warren zivon also a friend of hunter thompson yes yeah very nice
295
that sounded great paul thank you very much all right well
296
johnny johnny johnny how are you i'm all right good to
297
see you my friend you too man thank you how was How was your summer?
298
What did you do?
299
Were you working?
300
I was working, yeah.
301
Making movies?
302
I made a film, oddly, yeah.
303
What film did you make?
304
I made a film with.. another film with Tim Burton called Dark Shadows.
305
Dark Shadows.
306
And it's a vampire movie?
307
Something like that, yeah.
308
How's your family?
309
They're great.
310
How are the girls?
311
You got, like, a teenager and a nine -year -old?
312
My girl is.. my girl is 12.
313
Boy and a girl.
314
Yeah, and my boy is nine.
315
And, uh.. yeah they're just growing all too fast I remember one time
316
when the kids were much younger you described them as being like taking care of small drunks yeah
317
there is that syndrome yeah I need drunk yeah and
318
and how has that evolved hopefully it's evolved what is it evolved to now they're slightly less drunk
319
but still teetering yeah what I have run into here now
320
is a patch i hope it's only a patch of everything
321
is no whatever i suggest whatever i ask for everything is no
322
and then you have to work around it
323
and boy is it tiring there's the no
324
and then there's the why yeah oh yeah well i'm not
325
believe me i'm not equipped for the why why comes next
326
because it's the endless why yeah yeah but
327
but the the girl um now what i mean she's uh
328
gonna be she's high school didn't she? she's in junior high yeah she's she's verging on the teenagerdom
329
which is frightening really frightening yeah well makeup but believe me
330
if that's all you got to worry about you're home free
331
yeah yeah yeah no she's yeah she's she's quite astonishing i'm
332
in big trouble now listen listen i mean uh what happens
333
when she comes home
334
and says you know dad i've spent 14 years admiring your body art what do we do then johnny
335
my fear is that she'll she'll bring someone home that she's been admiring his body
336
that's my fear oh man uh
337
and the kids uh spend equal time in the california
338
and also france yeah yeah
339
and do they consider well that's pretty worldly experience for kids do does it show does it manifest itself
340
or are they just kids well i mean they speak french right yeah they're they're they're bilingual
341
and it's you know it's immediate they don't uh there's no they don't have a you know american accent
342
when they speak french or a french accent
343
when they speak america do you know
344
when they dream are they dreaming in french or english you know i don't know that yeah but
345
i sometimes dream in french dream in french yeah well i've been told
346
that that's a sign that you have absorbed the language as your own yeah yeah good for you
347
so i've made it your daughter likes uh justin bieber oh yes she does yeah
348
but i'm not sure anyone's daughter doesn't yeah uh
349
and do they know i mean you're in show business he's
350
in show business have you all gotten together there is
351
that weird connection yeah i've met the young man
352
and a very sweet kid how did you happen to meet
353
him well there was a he was playing a concert you know
354
and uh and uh my daughter lily rose was desperate to go to the show
355
and uh so we we got tickets and passes and things like
356
that and and uh brought her to the show and introduced them
357
and and it was quite astonishing to see her child in this kind of, like, frozen...
358
Really?
359
Really in awe?
360
Oh, yeah.
361
Now, do you remember when you were her age, having somebody with that effect on yourself?
362
No. And what is the word belieber?
363
Do I have that right, Justin?
364
B -ber -lieber?
365
What is it?
366
Well, that, yeah.
367
Is that his name in German?
368
Is that what it is?
369
It's Herbie Lieber Bieber.
370
I know.
371
I was kind of struck with that word.
372
You know, I was doing a press conference for, I think it was for Rango.
373
And out of nowhere, one of the journalists in the audience asked me if I was a Belieber.
374
And I thought maybe he'd had some sort of...
375
That's what I would...
376
Really?
377
Yeah.
378
That would not be a bad guess.
379
I was confused, and, uh, and, uh, and, uh, then, and then, ah, you know, Synapse fired.
380
Yeah.
381
And I understood what he was saying.
382
So I said, yes, of course, I'm a huge Belieber.
383
Right.
384
And then, about three and a half seconds later, to the right of the room, Justin Bieber enters.
385
Now, how do they do that?
386
What is, what is...
387
Exactly.
388
I don't know if we, if we, you know, we summoned him up.
389
i don't know what it was i'll bet that's what it
390
was maybe i think that's what it was yeah something something not quite right about
391
that dynamic he was just there yeah he's just there now
392
i was uh uh this uh i'm i'm fascinated with hunter thompson
393
and your friendship with him and uh
394
and the movie i saw last night as a matter of
395
oh the premiere how did the premiere go it went very
396
well i know you are uncomfortable watching yourself work on screen
397
how what did you do i didn't watch it now we have this picture now uh
398
if there had been a crime this would be damning evidence
399
but this is you entering the premiere are you all right
400
he was giving me the heimlich maneuver yeah i see
401
that it was it was a piece of animal flesh stuck in my throat everything's It's all good, yeah.
402
Yeah.
403
Well, I want to tell you, I don't mean to tell you how to do your business, but this photo right here, this will sell tickets.
404
This is all you want right here.
405
But now, in the movie, we see you without.. tattoos yeah there's a brilliant makeup man who covers these things
406
so you had to go through the makeup every day all over your body well most days
407
when you're without your yeah yeah when you when you're standing there
408
and you're in your boxers yeah yeah i had to get all covered up yeah this
409
hunter s thompson a friend of yours you you met him late in his life yep uh
410
and we're talking about this earlier in the literary firmament where
411
contemporary literary firmament where would we place hunter s thompson i
412
mean for me i think hunter is one of the most
413
without question one of the most important uh writers of the 20th century he was he reinvented a style of writing
414
by putting himself into the situation by by living it this
415
becomes this was the phrase the gonzo journalism yeah yeah
416
and uh as prolific as he should have been or
417
or not pretty prolific for for a very long time
418
and then you know uh later in life um just kind
419
of veered off you know a little in terms demons i mean uh he was on the old show two
420
or three times yeah uh
421
and i can i can remember those segments uh i can hear in my head the second hand clicking
422
because with him you just
423
didn't know you know it was is an ambulance on its
424
way what what what will hunter do will he be here
425
will he not be here well yeah yeah no he was
426
very unpredictable in a lot of I mean in every way
427
possible the first time I met him I was I happen
428
to be in Aspen in this is December of 94 having
429
to be in Aspen I got an invitation from a mutual
430
friend said would you like to meet Hunter come to the Woody Creek Tavern at you know midnight
431
or something so I so I go to Well, the Woody Creek Tavern, I make my way to the, as far back in the place as I can, you know, the back wall,
432
just to kind of be invisible.
433
And then at around 1 .30, the front door bursts open,
434
and I literally saw sparks. But sparks.
435
And then I saw people, like, throwing themselves out of the way, and this kind of sea, you opening the parting of the sea and uh people jumping
436
and diving and hurling themselves to safety and then i heard out of my way you bastards
437
and uh as he got closer i realized that he had a three -foot cattle prod in his left hand
438
and a taser in his right hand sure yeah just trying to make friends but he um but I mean beyond
439
that what kind of guy was in there I mean he
440
was he was he was a wonderful guy he was he
441
was brilliant incredibly quick -witted obviously as you know him he was very very fast
442
and very very funny
443
but he he was a sort of he just wanted to kind of he just wanted to have fun
444
and he did i mean he he dictated exactly the way he was going to live his life and you know
445
was he frustrated because he maybe was on
446
and i don't mean to flip about this
447
but on the wrong planet was he one of those guys
448
that just didn't kind of fit in the way he or maybe he didn't care
449
oh yeah he couldn't give a rats yeah yeah but do you live and spend any time in venice
450
italy yes yeah i have yeah yeah do you own property
451
there no no i don't yeah okay there's a strange rumor
452
that i do
453
but there is a strange rumor that's what i was alluding to yeah people say you see
454
that johnny depp owns that and lives right there yeah no i wish i did
455
but i don't yeah it's a nice city uh it's a
456
but it's it's a little sad because it's uh like
457
so many of these it's a dying city there's really other
458
than tourism there's no no the culture is all vanishing yeah Yeah, well, there's certainly nothing you can get good out of that water.
459
Yeah, that's right.
460
Except out of the water, if you know what I mean.
461
Out of the water.
462
So this movie, where did you guys shoot the film?
463
In San Juan in Puerto Rico.
464
So it was actually all shot in Puerto Rico.
465
And it's the story of, it is autobiographical.
466
It is.
467
It was basically, it was Hunter in 1959, 1960, the pre Fear and Loathing Hunter, pre Hell's Angels, was the guy who was trying to find his voice
468
and trying to find that outlet for for that rage and
469
and starting as a newspaper man this was a a first
470
job at a newspaper yeah i think before he worked for
471
the san juan star he worked for he went down there uh uh
472
and worked for a bowling magazine a puerto rican bowling magazine
473
honest to god did i mean did subscribers really who Who subscribes to Puerto Rican boulders?
474
Probably only Hunter at that point.
475
How long did it take you to shoot the film?
476
It was pretty quick, actually.
477
It was only a couple of months, two, three months.
478
Yeah.
479
It looks fantastic.
480
Thank you.
481
It's just a wonderful experience and real.
482
Like I say, it creates a nostalgia for a time in my life I never had.
483
Does that make sense?
484
You know, you wish, oh, I wish I had that life, but I never did.
485
And did you, when Hunter died, killed himself, what did you miss immediately other than just the guy's spirit?
486
ah you know geez everything you know um would you guys
487
talk regularly before he died oh most definitely i think what
488
i miss most about you know of hunter is the is the
489
or those 3 a .m phone calls where he would say he used to call me colonel colonel depp
490
yeah he made me yeah why why not yeah he made me an official kentucky colonel oh i see yeah
491
which she was very proud of, which I don't think is very difficult to do.
492
He's not from Kentucky, is he?
493
Oh, yeah, he's from Louisville.
494
Oh, so he had that power.
495
Yeah, so we had that sort of connection, but the 3 a .m phone calls where he would say, Colonel, wake up, man.
496
What do you know of the hairy black tongue disease?
497
I'm sorry?
498
Well, the hairy black tongue, man, it's everywhere.
499
We must avoid it.
500
Well, of course we must yeah it was
501
that kind of stuff you get yeah and then
502
that would be the whole conversation oh no then it would go on it would go on that was
503
that was just hello yeah yeah you had me at the
504
hairy black tongue disease uh this is a a lovely piece
505
of work this film the rum diary this was a manuscript uh written
506
and then published later published in 1998 is what it was 98 yeah
507
but It had been overlooked and rejected many years, hadn't it?
508
Yeah, what happened was I think Hunter wrote the thing.
509
Hunter was looking to write the great American novel, or as he put it later, you know, the great Puerto Rican novel.
510
He, we were, it was about 96, 97, and we were going through the manuscript of Fear and Loathing, which consisted of all kinds of madness.
511
You know, you'd pull out a cocktail napkin with some sort of matter on it and then, you you know, old dried gum, and, you know, and this other sort of,
512
you know, these brilliant passages.
513
And I pushed that box aside, opened up another cardboard box, and it said The Rum Diary.
514
And we sat there cross -legged on the floor reading the thing, and he said, uh, he said, good God, man, this is very good, isn't it?
515
I said, yes, it is.
516
He said, we should make a movie.
517
I said, maybe you should publish it first.
518
Yeah.
519
And, uh, because I don't think he'd looked at it since about 1959 or 16.
520
Thank you so much for being on the program tonight.
521
This is exciting.
522
Now, here's how dumb I am.
523
I didn't realize that when you wanted to be in show business, you were going to be as a musician.
524
You are a musician, and that's what you thought you would be, a famous, whatever, musician.
525
Yeah, since I was about 12.
526
12 years old.
527
And what is your instruments?
528
You play multiple instruments?
529
Mostly guitar.
530
Guitar?
531
Yeah.
532
You started in Kentucky, is that where you started?
533
Yeah.
534
Yeah.
535
Yeah.
536
I think it was.
537
And then you went where?
538
Did you go from Kentucky?
539
South Florida.
540
South Florida?
541
Yeah.
542
And then you went to Hollywood, Los Angeles?
543
And you were going to be a music star?
544
Well, not necessarily.
545
But you wanted to pursue music.
546
I was going to be a guitar player.
547
Going to be a guitar player.
548
And where did you see yourself as a guitar player?
549
Like a really good studio guy, a solo actor?
550
Not particularly good, no. Not good?
551
No. I was all right.
552
But you had never thought about acting?
553
never once no that's crazy isn't it yeah yeah so now yeah
554
so what was the turning moment you're out there in california you have your guitar
555
and suddenly you're an actor well the sudden realization of um you know rent bills you know
556
when that pops into your head
557
and you realize at some point you'll have to deal with the inevitable
558
but you know that story often goes the other way
559
somebody goes out there to be an actor yeah
560
and suddenly you got no money
561
so they go to play the guitar to make money you
562
did it just the opposite weirdly yeah yeah how did you how did somebody get your first gig
563
if you were a guitar player because
564
that means you weren't actually out there auditioning no uh my
565
band uh moved from florida to los angeles what was the
566
name of the band at the time we were called the kids the kids we actually were kids at the time
567
and so you you and the kids are out there yeah yeah well i mean literally you
568
and the kids are out there yeah and so then what happens
569
uh you know did some opening act stuff that kind of thing
570
and uh who did you work for uh open up for
571
uh we did we did some some good shows back in that time it was like billy idol and and um
572
you know guys like that the pretenders wow yeah ramones and uh yeah good gig
573
so so then all of a sudden you're uh somebody calls
574
and says what i saw you on stage with the kids
575
no no I was uh uh dead broke you know
576
and I was filling out job applications at various uh well anything you know video stores
577
or coffee joints or whatever and a friend of mine who happened to be an actor Nicolas Cage
578
yeah how did you heard of him yes how did you
579
and Nicolas Cage get to be buddies in those days uh
580
he was he was just sort of around all the all the people
581
that i was hanging around with and we became pals
582
and he he sent me to his agent to uh you know he said i think you should try acting
583
and i and i met his agent she sent me to read for something
584
and they hired me what was that you remember what
585
that was yeah that was nightmare on elm street the first one whoa
586
that's pretty good i was about three when i did uh
587
and then uh later we got a man named bill carter who is uh well known in in texas music
588
and and southwestern music or what they call americana i guess yeah a singer songwriter uh
589
and you met him where where did your paths meet bill and i met uh uh bill and ruth
590
his wife yeah they're they're amazing songwriters and i met them
591
when i was doing um gilbert grape in austin yeah
592
and uh and um yeah you know we all just hit it off you know
593
and uh and so they were my kind of saving grace during
594
that period because it was a long movie and uh
595
so we i did the movie
596
and then i moved in with them for a few months right that's amazing your movies are uh interesting movies
597
and huge commercial successes i mean rarely do you get that combination consistently
598
it's got nothing to do with me i don't think no no i could have done any of those films
599
i can't thank you enough for being here it's a nice night for us
600
and i hope for you as well because you're here with your your friend
601
and we're going to hear some music later yes let's talk about the lone ranger oh i'm
602
so excited for this movie i really this is excellent
603
and you're not the lone ranger i'm not you're his faithful
604
companion tonto i'm i play tonto yeah uh do you mind
605
if i just show these oh sure these are great
606
and then the lone ranger is of course who's alone army army hammer yeah
607
and that's you he's terrific yeah he's great
608
now i i as i recall the the uh the beginning
609
of the the genesis of the lone ranger is it comes from a dark story uh and is
610
that the the tone of your film pretty much yeah it comes from a very dark very dark uh backstory
611
and then uh he becomes the lone ranger through tonto's guidance did did this mean anything to you
612
when you were a kid the the maybe after the radio broadcast
613
but it was a tv show as well did you like
614
the lone ranger in those days i did i like i
615
liked watching the series i was always somewhat confused about tonto's
616
uh position i was always i always thought well why does tonto go
617
and have to do this and why is he sending the indian off to right right
618
and it is is is
619
that different in this movie oh very very different yeah very
620
different this is this it tells this looks like a painting
621
this looks like a uh a charles russell rendering doesn't it
622
that's fantastic you look you look um like you know what you're doing on a horse yeah I don't I
623
that was probably about two and a half seconds before everything went very sideways
624
but I'm telling you I mean forget the movie I I'd pay ten bucks just to look at this picture
625
so so no
626
but you ride you don't ride I have no no I've ridden quite a lot in various movies
627
and stuff and you know growing up kentucky you grow up around horses
628
and everything but every horse is different everything so yeah
629
so you had to ride that horse at top speed quite a lot yeah how did
630
that go went pretty well up into a point yeah there was one moment in particular where it got unpleasant where
631
the horses had been running we'd been running them all day
632
so they weren't really interested in slowing down at all
633
so we went to a de - we were shooting at
634
a different place in the desert where there's these you know there are little bumps
635
and things growing and and so my horse that I was on decided to jump a couple of these little obstacles.
636
Horse was unaware that the saddle I was wearing And to sit on top of it was sort of jerry -rigged, kind of faked.
637
It was to give the effect that you were riding bareback, the horse.
638
To give the effect that I'm riding bareback.
639
So basically, it's not really tight on the horse.
640
It's just enough to...
641
Yeah, just a little tissue there for you to sit on.
642
Essentially, yeah.
643
A band -aid.
644
And so, yeah, when we came down, I went...
645
The saddle slipped, you know, and I went to the left and had the reins here
646
and somehow had the wherewithal to grab the mane of the horse.
647
And then the next thing I saw, all very calm for some reason, I figured that fear would kick in, but it didn't.
648
I was waiting.
649
I just, all I saw in front of my eyes were the sort of these very muscular horse legs and the striations,
650
the striations of muscles moving, you know, this kind of death machine.
651
and uh one word popped into my head
652
hooves you know hooves in any case hooves yeah mind the hooves
653
so what do you do when you're in that position well you make a decision yeah
654
Will I go with the beast until someone wrangles it
655
or will I drop you know well you know it's a crapshoot sure
656
and what did you choose I dropped now where when
657
you I mean you know we're being silly about this but you really could have been seriously seriously injured if not killed?
658
Horrifically mangled at the very least.
659
You landed on your back, did you get stepped on?
660
I landed on my back, you know hit the deck pretty pretty hard and
661
the one thing that saved me was the horse's instinct to lift his front legs and go over me.
662
Stepped over you?
663
Stepped over me, had he not it was coming straight down into the head
664
yeah uh broken ribs strains bruises anything no he just kind of clipped me with his back legs
665
so he's just a little sore just kind of clipped you
666
with his back leg yeah yeah a good horse will do
667
that oh my god uh but uh honest to god you you what we're the stunt people for heaven's sakes
668
you're tonto yeah you don't need that It's the exact same question I asked.
669
Publishing.
670
I know you have a love of books and you have published this New York Times bestseller already.
671
This is a lost novel from Woody Guthrie?
672
Yeah.
673
About the Dust Bowl.
674
How did you find the transcript of this?
675
It came to me through a mutual friend of Hunter Thompson's and myself, this guy named And Douglas Brinkley,
676
who's a brilliant writer and historian, professor, he's just amazing.
677
So he called me and said, I've just been shown the manuscript of Woody Guthrie's lost novel.
678
I think you're the guy.
679
You know, I think we should, you should publish it.
680
And so we went into it and just wanted to make the book as, you know, as beautiful as possible since they're a dying breed, those things.
681
And plans to publish other volumes, different things? yeah we have a couple of things in in
682
in line there's one um uh there's a thing we're doing with um with bob dylan
683
which which should be interesting uh
684
and the other thing last night we had a a group
685
on uh doing sea shanties exactly yeah yeah for the americans from a collection of sea shanties
686
which you produced
687
and not only did i not know you had produced it
688
this is the second collection of sea yeah rogues gallery yeah this is the son of rogues son of rogues
689
and this this is a music that you came to
690
when you were doing the the pirates of the caribbean series
691
yeah on pirates one i was listening to a lot of
692
sea shanties you know just to stay in the in the feel of the time
693
and everything and uh gore and i the director
694
and i thought wow wouldn't it be great to have contemporary
695
artists do this these guys were great last night now uh
696
bill i'm sorry i haven't forgotten about you welcome to the show thank you nice to meet you
697
here how did what is the uh johnny explained uh the connection early
698
when he moved in with you and your wife
699
and then you started working together musically tell us about those days and what was going on Well, in those particular days, Johnny was making movies and I was playing music, basically.
700
It was all I was doing.
701
So we would go with him on his movies wherever he was, around the world, and we would play all the time.
702
You guys actually had a band?
703
Well, at one point we had a band in the mid -90s called P, the letter P.
704
P. We made a record.
705
What did that represent, the P?
706
The letter in the alphabet.
707
i don't need to take this uh and and then uh
708
but and now you work together you're going to play together tonight yeah yeah
709
and and tell us the uh the the history behind what we're going to hear tonight
710
and the collection of music from which it comes and on
711
and on everything we need to know well this particular song is called anything made of paper
712
and it's a song that my wife
713
and i ruth we write a lot of songs together we wrote um for our friends uh damian eckles
714
and uh lori davis Damien was one of the West Memphis Three, imprisoned unjustly for 18 years, and...
715
This took place in 1993.
716
Exactly.
717
Accused and tried and convicted of horrendous crimes.
718
Youngness.
719
And then, as it turned out, they had been wrongly convicted, wrongly accused.
720
Exactly.
721
And anything made of paper, tell us that story.
722
So when Lori, his wife, came to visit Ruth and I, she brought three roses that he had made out of paper as a gift to represent the West Memphis Three.
723
and um i had asked her what i could send back for him
724
and she said all he can have is anything made of paper yeah
725
so i immediately had this image a song absolutely i mean right there yeah
726
but i know that's a song yeah you could have easily written the song that's that's tremendous um
727
so and then tonight we hear this song
728
and then uh working together on future projects well we're always
729
recording you know doing things we recorded uh we did something
730
the other day for Springsteen Radio we did a Bruce song
731
and on the west of Memphis the soundtrack we recorded Johnny
732
and I we and band recovered a Ozzy Osbourne song called Road to Nowhere
733
and so we do little things here and there
734
and Johnny's playing on this track I'm Bill tell me some
735
of your buddies over the years from Austin the your pals from Texas
736
that the right music well my wife and we wrote a couple of songs for Stevie Ray Vaughan,
737
Crossfire, there were a lot of them I think most of them recorded our songs from the fabulous Thunderbirds,
738
Omar and the Howlers, Tony Price, the whole slew of them, Freddie Fender, Waylon Jennings, a lot of different people.
739
Yeah, good for you.
740
Austin is, Austin is great, isn't it?
741
oh nice to have you with us it's nice to be back thank you very much for having every now
742
and then people will come to my office and
743
and i've asked them not to do that
744
and they will say dave who who should we have on the show
745
and i said well johnny depp it's always my idea
746
and thank you very much for being here you just came
747
back from china recently i did yeah last night how many times you've been to china often
748
that was it now uh here's my impression i have seen a film shot in beijing
749
and other major cities of china and i'm stunned at how big
750
and urban and and western they they seem to appear does
751
that is that no no question about it i mean you've got i mean everything it's all there yeah
752
and the other thing is uh if i were to go to china i'm sure
753
that I would be abducted and never seen again.
754
Now...
755
Is that China?
756
Yes, no, it's more me.
757
No, it's all on me.
758
It's not China.
759
It's all me.
760
Well, I'll go with you.
761
But do you get the sense that, you know, you're in the bar having a drink and your swizzle stick's got a microphone in it?
762
Do you get that feeling?
763
You know, I get that feeling every day.
764
It doesn't matter where...
765
Regardless.
766
Doesn't make any difference.
767
there's a lot of weepers uh you have a lot of weepers back there what are you talking about
768
apparently you've just announced your retirement yes i'm being i'm being told that
769
that happened moments ago yeah i witnessed it yeah i saw
770
it i think i had one of those tia's i don't
771
remember anything about it well done there's a lot of there's
772
a lot of weepers back there um i i myself was
773
on the verge no try to please try to hold it together oh it's only
774
because i i had planned to announce my retirement oh darn here what a night that would have been and uh and now that's ruined
775
because no one cares tell me um tell me something about the kids how are the the kids doing.
776
Kids are doing great.
777
They're really great.
778
How old are they now?
779
My boy is just about to turn 12, Jack.
780
And my girl, Lily Rose, is about to turn 15.
781
Tell me about the 12 -year -old.
782
I'm asking selfishly because my son is 10.
783
And before you know it, he'll be 12 and beyond.
784
What is a 12 -year -old boy?
785
They're just cool.
786
They're just easy.
787
Yeah.
788
They really are.
789
I mean, little girls are wonderful things.
790
and then they turn 15 you know then they get up to like 15
791
and uh you know they're they're they're they wear clothes to school
792
that uh shocking now i'm
793
so i'm such i want to be on an opium drip
794
for the rest of my days i really do i just want to lie there and drool and nod
795
i really do now is there uh
796
and it's my retirement i understand what you're talking about you maybe they want to wear something to school
797
that you perhaps find inappropriate now is there an intervention
798
because whenever i try to intervene whenever my son wants to wear something scanty to
799
class it's always a no -go do you have
800
that same problem with the girls i really do yeah um
801
i really do i had to even uh bring in sort
802
of outside troops you know other opinions yeah from people
803
that might might appear a little scary to her uh alice
804
cooper who's a friend there you go well that's good yeah
805
let me have his number before you get out of here
806
thank you very much paul johnny depp is here uh i know this i haven't seen it
807
but i know what ahead of time and now i see it
808
that you're wearing wearing uh you have an engagement ring i do i have a female engagement ring yeah
809
but you you uh you're getting married well yeah yeah yeah
810
but it's it's not typical for a man to wear an
811
engagement ring is it no uh it was too big for my girl really yeah so uh
812
so the woman you're uh who's been on the show by
813
the way amber oh lovely uh we have a picture i think this is her
814
and her father for heaven's sakes how do you get along
815
with her father great yeah he's about the closest thing to hunter s thompson i've ever met oh is
816
that right so there you go birds of a feather we get along well yeah uh
817
so you go out and and nobody knows anybody's finger size do they no yeah
818
no it's a big fallacy yeah so the the ring is too large for her
819
but it fit you perfectly yeah
820
so i put it on she has the other one
821
that fits she has one that fits
822
and you have the other yeah well that's nice i mean
823
and i bet you get a lot of comment actually i
824
don't i think people are scared to comment yeah why why
825
is a grown man wearing a woman's engagement ring that's fine
826
because i know that's fine yeah what is this picture this
827
is you how old are you in this picture here oh
828
oh wow i was about 20 i think i was 20 years old there
829
and that's from nightmare on elm street nightmare on elm street oh my god look at
830
that look at the hair on that kid for god
831
speaking of kids what kind of kid were you i mean
832
you knew early on you wanted to be an actor
833
because early on you were an actor
834
but what did was there trouble let me just ask you
835
this were ever arrested as a kid that's the way you
836
tell i i i was arrested a few times accidentally oh
837
accidentally accidentally one of those accidental arrests wrong place at the wrong time ah
838
and it was an arrest whereby mom and dad come down
839
and get you
840
or you actually stayed in the i stayed in oh you
841
stayed in yeah how long were you in oh once i
842
was in for a couple of days you know in the
843
in the sort of in the system in a holding cell for a couple of days unpleasant yeah uh
844
but i've seen worse yeah was it again none of my
845
business although we could certainly look it up as a public record but was it uh Was it alcohol -related?
846
I don't think so.
847
All right, I'll just go look it up.
848
This movie, Transcendence, oh, my God, and here you go.
849
And by the way, we're not far away.
850
from this artificial intelligence yeah it's right there
851
and it's going to be the next huge breakthrough and
852
and hopefully it will be a way to save mankind tell people about this movie really
853
well you got me there i'm stumped um well it's a good movie
854
i have not seen it myself
855
but i hear i hear good things you you are at
856
the forefront you are avant -garde of a development you have developed a machine a computer pin
857
that is correct that
858
that is capable has encompassed all human emotional possibilities it can
859
yes you can upload your your human consciousness you can upload human consciousness to this yes this machine and And, you know, kind of frighteningly,
860
but also, I mean, possibly in a positive way, we're not all that far from that kind of intelligence.
861
Knowing, having made the film, do you have any insight?
862
How close are we?
863
I bet it's actually not as far away as we think.
864
Not so far, in fact.
865
Yeah.
866
So one day in 15, 20, 100 years, I could be a,
867
you know, if I upload my consciousness into this computer someday, I could probably just end up being a slot machine somewhere, you know.
868
Somebody puts a quarter in and I talk to them.
869
That's good news.
870
That's good news for mankind, isn't it?
871
We'll be right back.
Download App
Everything you need to speak fluently
AI PronunciationScore every sentence
IPA PracticeMaster every sound
VocabularyBuild your word bank
Vocab GameLearn while playing
Same Channel
B21
Hilarious Vintage Interviews with Future Hollywood Legends | David Letterman
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
Matthew Perry Talks About Going To Rehab | Letterman
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
Barack Obama on His Multiracial Identity | Letterman
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B14
Emma Watson Talks About Harry Potter Ending | Letterman
TeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
B13
Leonardo DiCaprio Got A Shocking Look At Lassie | Letterman
Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B21
Aishwarya Rai Is The Most Beautiful Person In The World | David Letterman
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2Robin Tunney Talks Wrapping The Mentalist & Living in Simon Baker’s Shadow | David Letterman
Interview EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
B1The Best Of Tom Cruise | David Letterman
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B2The Best Of Steve Carell | David Letterman
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
FOR YOU
Recommend Video
B28
74 sentences
Ellen Puts Johnny Depp in the Hot Seat
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B23
41 sentences
Daniel Day Lewis on Acting
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B250 sentences
Tom Cruise Does Makeup The 'TC' Way | The Graham Norton Show
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
57 sentences
John Deacon Interview 1986
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
153 sentences
Quentin Tarantino talks Piracy & the Hateful Eight
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
96 sentences
A Dinner With Death | Meet Joe Black
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B249 sentences
Dakota jhonson..
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
261 sentences
Hugh Grant on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno 7/10/95
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
26 sentences
The Adventure of Directing Burt Reynolds on Pain Meds During Dukes of Hazzard Pt 1
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
166 sentences
MORTAL KOMBAT II Cast Answer Burning Questions
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
166 sentences
Steve Carell Plays With Puppies While Answering Fan Questions
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B22
38 sentences
david bowie interview 1973
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Best Johnny Depp Moments”. This video has 871 sentences and 9309 words to shadow. The speech runs for 56:21. The speaker talks at a natural 165 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hunter noun | /ˈhʌntɚ/ | One who hunts game for sport or for food; a huntsman or huntswoman. |
| guitar noun | /ɡɪˈtɑɹ/ | A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick). |
| lone adjective | /loʊn/ | Solitary; having no companion. |
| ranger noun | /ˈɹeɪ̯nd͡ʒɚ/ | One who ranges; a rover. |
| colonel noun | /ˈkɜːnəl/ | A commissioned officer in an armed military organization, typically the highest rank before flag officer ranks (generals). It is generally found in armies, air… |
| buddy | /ˈbʌdi/ | A person far removed from the conversation. |
| engagement noun | /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ.mənt/ | An appointment, especially to speak or perform. |
| clip noun | /klɪp/ | Something which clips or grasps; a device for attaching one object to another. |
| brad noun | /bɹæd/ | A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an… |
| publish verb | /ˈpʌblɪʃ/ | To issue (something, such as printed work) for distribution and/or sale. |
| unpleasant adjective | /ʌnˈplɛzn̩t/ | Not pleasant. |
| leather noun | /ˈlɛðɚ/ | A tough material produced from the skin of animals, by tanning or similar process, used e.g. for clothing; often denotes leather from cattle when no qualifier… |
| accidentally adverb | /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/ | In an accidental manner; by chance, unexpectedly. |
| nightmare noun | /ˈnaɪt.mɛɚ/ | A very unpleasant or frightening dream. |
| uncomfortable adjective | /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/ | Not comfortable; causing discomfort. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. |
| get along verb | To interact or coexist well, without argument or trouble. |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
| go out verb | To leave, especially a building. |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. |
| grow up verb | To mature and become an adult. |
| step over noun | A dribbling move, or feint, in football (soccer), used to fool a defensive player into thinking the offensive player, in possession of the ball, in which the… |
| work together verb | To be coworkers with someone; to share a workspace with someone. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- You know what I mean?
- How old are your kids?
- Did you ever understand the joke?
- What, do you remember the joke?
- Did you like being on that show?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to be · used to call |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | That's been · has been · We've done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being chased · is hurled · i've been told |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | guys who are · friend who was · guys who work |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 238 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: leather /ˈlɛðɚ/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: publish /ˈpʌblɪʃ/, consciousness /ˈkɑnʃəsnəs/, musician /mjuˈzɪʃən/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, shock /ʃɔk/
- Long words — get the stress right: accidentally /ˌæk.sɪˈdɛnt(ə)li/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, essentially /ɪˈsɛnʃəli/, literary /ˈlɪt.(ə.)ɹə.ɹi/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like hunter, guitar, lone.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.