Watch your back, Liz Hurley. Johnny Depp wears makeup so well he might be tapped to be the next Estee Lauder spokesmodel.
As woozy, boozy Capt. Jack Sparrow in the movie blockbuster du jour, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," Depp's eyes are heavily ringed in kohl. The raccoon eyes work for him, but most women would be running for the makeup remover.
Sparrow is the bad guy whom the girls (OK, and some women) want to rehabilitate. He's a cuter, less skeletal Keith Richards. Not since Tim Curry's sweet-transvestite turn in "Rocky Horror Picture Show" has an actor been so sexy in excessive eye makeup.
"It's not eyeliner," Depp told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "I got the idea from football players who put black under their eyes to cut down on reflections from the sun. Jack spends all day in the sun, so it makes sense that he'd do that. But he doesn't use a mirror, and he doesn't wash it off at night. So it starts to build up and get messy."
Time for a facial, mate.
Sparrow is not the first Depp character with a penchant for the makeup bag:
— Depp was gothic in 1990's "Edward Scissorhands," his moon face dusted bony and pouty lips pronounced in burgundy-brown. The dark shadows circling his eyes matched Edward's sunken demeanor. The otherworldly face almost upstaged the hedge-clipper hands.
— In "Ed Wood" (1994), Depp dipped into the color pot to portray the B-movie director's transvestite obsession Glenda, pretty in pink and more than a little askew. Even as Ed Wood, Depp juiced up his pretty-boy gaze with a swipe of kohl.
— "Dead Man" (1995): a lightning bolt down either cheek.
— "Don Juan DeMarco" (1995): bring on the kohl again, this time on the rim of the bottom lids rather than underneath.
— "Sleepy Hollow" (1999): lovely hollowed cheeks (thanks to contouring blush) and peaches-and-cream skin (powder several shades lighter than his natural olive hue).
— In "Platoon" (1986), Depp looks like he may have stuffed eyeliner into his duffel bag before heading to the jungles of Vietnam. Don't ask, don't tell?
He gets a bad review now and then, but — "Charlie's Angels," eat your hearts out — Depp knows how to wear makeup without looking like a tart.