All About Lily-Rose Depp’s Parents, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis welcomed their first child, Lily-Rose Depp, together in May 1999
Lily-Rose Depp is following in her parents' talented footsteps.
The Idol actress is the daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, born on May 27, 1999. The former couple — who were together for over 14 years, from 1998 to 2012 — are also the parents of son Jack, who was born in 2002.
For much of Lily-Rose's childhood, her parents tried to shield her from the spotlight. In a 2007 interview with Weekend Knack (a Belgian magazine), Vanessa explained her decision to keep her kids’ lives out of the public eye at a young age.
“Now I indeed keep them away from the cameras because I don’t want our children to be forced to share in our fame against their will. They didn’t ask for that. Not yet,” the French singer and actress said at the time. “The day that they will decide for themselves to do things that might bring them into the spotlights, then I won’t stop them.”
As Lily-Rose grew older, she began to open up in her own interviews about her relationship with her mom and dad. In February 2023, she spoke with i-D about growing up with parents in the spotlight.
“I feel like my parents did the best job that they possibly could at giving me the most 'normal childhood' that they could,” Lily-Rose told the outlet. “And obviously, that still was not a normal childhood. I’m super aware of the fact that my childhood did not look like everybody's.”
Meanwhile, Johnny said he's always going to be protective of his daughter, despite her age. “No matter how grown-up she gets, I’ll never stop worrying about her. It’s a father-daughter thing,” he explained to the Daily Mail in 2015.
“She’s got a sensible head on her shoulders," the Pirates of the Caribbean actor added. "I trust her to lead a sensible, responsible life, but I can’t ever see the day coming when I just switch off to let her make her own way in the world.”
Scroll on for more about Johnny and Vanessa, including Lily-Rose's relationship with both of them.
Johnny and Vanessa met for the first time in 1998
Johnny and Vanessa first connected while he was in France filming The Ninth Gate during the summer of 1998. The Oscar-nominated actor recalled their initial interaction when speaking to Daily Mail in 2011.
"It was the H?tel Costes," he told the outlet. “She was wearing a dress with an exposed back and I saw that back and that neck, and then she turned around and I saw those eyes, and — boom! My life as a single man was done."
When later speaking with Elle UK, Vanessa described her immediate connection to Johnny. "We were in two different worlds — him in America, me in France — but we had friends in common," she said.
"We saw each other sometimes over the course of four years,” she explained. “But then, the day we found each other in Paris, we were both in the same world and free and it was just instant. There was no more time to waste — just no way around it."
Related: All About Johnny Depp's Lookalike Son, Jack Depp
Johnny and Vanessa had ‘no plans’ of getting married
Johnny and Vanessa were together for 14 years before their breakup in 2012. Despite being together for over a decade and starting a family, the couple never married. The French actress opened up to Elle UK about their decision.
"Each summer people say we're supposed to be getting married, but we don't talk about it that much," she said at the time. "He's got me, and he knows he's got me. I love the romance of 'let's get married,' but then when you have it so perfect … I mean, I'm more married than anybody can be — we have two kids. Maybe one day, but it's something I can really do without."
Johnny and Vanessa welcomed two kids together
Johnny and Vanessa welcomed their first child, daughter Lily-Rose Melody, less than a year after first meeting. She was born on May 27, 1999.
Johnny later told Vanity Fair he played a Keith Richards piano cover of Hoagy Carmichael's classic "The Nearness of You" from a boombox while Vanessa was giving birth.
"This is her birth song,” he told the outlet in 2009. “She arrived to this, man."
In 2002, Vanessa and Johnny welcomed their second child, son John Christopher "Jack" Depp III, on April 9 in France. After his birth, a rep for the couple told Reuters, "Mother and son are doing great."
In 2007, Vanessa explained to a Belgian publication how she and Johnny shielded their two children from the difficulties of living in the spotlight. When asked where she prefers to live, she said: "For my children I secretly choose France. Even though Los Angeles is great too.”
She continued, “We raise them bilingually anyway, so for them it doesn't really matter. Only, in the South of France you can live much more anonymously. And that's a bliss, especially when the children are still young."
Johnny is 'proud' of his relationship with Lily-Rose
Johnny shares a close father-daughter bond with Lily-Rose. The proud dad has praised her in interviews since she was young.
“Lily’s really together,” he told Daily Mail in 2015. “She’s a sharp kid and one of the smartest human beings I have ever met.” He went on to explain the close father-daughter relationship they share.
“Whatever she is doing, if she needs any advice, I’m there for her,” the actor told the outlet. “Kids are going to make their own decisions, but I guess that the only thing you can do as a parent is to offer support. And I do.”
Johnny also marveled at the passage of time, watching his “little girl” transition from his “baby” into “suddenly being a young woman.” He pointed out, “If you’re not really looking for it, you can miss it, and Lily-Rose is on that road already and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”
The actor has supported and accepted his daughter in all aspects of her life, especially who she is as a person. In August 2015, she revealed she saw herself as sexually fluid when she joined the Self Evident Project, which celebrates people who are “anywhere on the LGBTQI spectrum.”
Unlike her “thousands of followers” on social media who “were all taken completely by surprise,” Johnny told the Daily Mail he wasn’t: “Not me. I already knew because she tells me everything. She’s not afraid to say anything to me. We’re super-tight and I’m very proud of our relationship.”
Related: Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis' Relationship Timeline
Johnny has tattoos in honor of his kids
Johnny displayed his love for his children by getting tattoos in their honor. The actor showed off his ink celebrating Lily-Rose at a press conference, while his tat to his son has a double meaning.
In dedication to Lily-Rose, Johnny has her name tatted on his chest. He proudly showed it off during a press conference during the Kustendorf Film and Music Festival in Serbia in 2010.
Johnny’s tat in tribute to his son Jack features a flying sparrow with his name written underneath it on his right forearm — which is also a nod to his character, Capt. Jack Sparrow, who sported an almost identical tattoo in Pirates of the Caribbean.
One distinction between the real and fictional tattoo is that in the film, the sparrow is featured flying away from the body, whereas Johnny had his drawn flying toward his body.
Johnny and Vanessa have been supportive of Lily-Rose’s acting career
When Johnny and Vanessa’s kids were young, the French actress opened up to Weekend Knack about whether she’d want her kids to pursue careers in entertainment.
“Well. I don’t know,” Vanessa told the outlet in September 2007. “I presume I would support them… When my daughter tells me she wants to sing, that’s fine. And then all I can do is try to protect her from the mistakes I made.”
She continued, “I can only try to support her the best I can. Of course I hope she waits as long as she can, and that she stays a child as long as possible. But I won’t forbid it.”
While Johnny has been open about his discomfort with his children following in his Hollywood footsteps, he admitted to the Daily Mail that he can’t deny his daughter’s talent.
“Her becoming an actress was never my dream or my desire for her, but that’s what she enjoys doing,” Johnny said of Lily-Rose, who landed several roles and modeling gigs for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel before age 16.
“It’s her passion and it’s where she ended up,” he continued. “And she’s got the goods – she can certainly deliver,” he said at the time.
Related: Johnny Depp's Exes Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis Defend Him in U.K. Libel Case
Johnny and Vanessa split when Lily-Rose was 13
Johnny and Vanessa officially announced they had split in June 2012. The actor’s publicist told Entertainment Tonight the couple "amicably separated" and requested privacy for the family.
Lily Rose was 13 years old when her parents split — but despite her young age at the time of their break up, she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2023 that her teen years were relaxed and easy-going.
“My parents weren’t very strict,” she told the outlet. “They’ve always trusted me to be independent and make my own decisions. There wasn’t really -anything to rebel against.”
While Vanessa opted to keep details private following their split, Johnny opened up one year later about how he’s been doing since the separation. "The last couple years have been a bit bumpy," he told Rolling Stone in June 2013.
"At times, certainly unpleasant, but that's the nature of breakups, I guess, especially when there are kiddies involved." He added, "It doesn't stop the fact that you care for that person, and they're the mother of your kids. You'll always know each other, and you're always gonna be in each other's lives because of those kids. You might as well make the best of it."
However, Johnny said focusing on their children helped him through the breakup. "They've been incredibly understanding, incredibly strong throughout the whole ordeal," he continued. "And it's hard on every side. You know, Vanessa's side, certainly not easy. My side, not easy. The kids are the most complicated."
Johnny and Vanessa both married different partners after their breakup
Johnny married Amber Heard in a private island ceremony in 2015, but they called it quits just 15 months later. Amber cited irreconcilable differences in a petition for divorce and filed for a temporary restraining order against her spouse amid allegations of domestic violence, which he denied.
The private details of their tumultuous relationship played out in court during the former couple's 2022 defamation trial, which stemmed from a 2018 op-ed Amber wrote for The Washington Post. On June 1, 2022, the pair's highly publicized legal dispute ended in a verdict largely in Depp's favor.
A jury decided that Amber's op-ed, in which she referred to herself as a victim of domestic violence but didn't mention Johnny by name, was defamatory. One year later, Amber paid Johnny $1 million in settlement money, officially closing out the defamation case.
In 2018, Vanessa married film director Samuel Benchetrit. This marked the first marriage for the French singer and actress. Both Lily-Rose and Jack were in attendance at the ceremony, held at a small schoolhouse town hall in Saint-Simeon in France.
Related: Johnny Depp's Dating History: From Winona Ryder to Kate Moss
Lily-Rose didn't feel the need to address Johnny's defamation lawsuit
Theo Wargo/Getty
Lily-Rose explained to ELLE why she didn't feel obligated to address her dad's controversial trial.
"When it's something that's so private and so personal that all of a sudden becomes not so personal … I feel really entitled to my secret garden of thoughts," Lily-Rose told the outlet in November 2022.
"I also think that I'm not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, people have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that's my family members or my boyfriends, whatever," she continued. "And I'm really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there."
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