Being allowed to utter the sentence "I met Johnny Depp," and have it be true is, in itself, an honor, and an extraordinary thing. But to get to tack the word "again" onto that sentence...that is just pure insanity.

Back in early April, I was at the set of Johnny's movie Public Enemies, and afterwards, my friends and I waited at his trailer for hours in the cold and rain, until at long last, there he was. There weren't many people there, so I was able to talk to him quite a bit, take a few photos with him, and be the lucky recipient of a couple amazing Depp hugs.

Now, two months later, just as that first encounter was about to finally sink in, something incredible happened; some seraph of Heaven must have taken an enormous, sparkling, angelic dump on me, because on the morning of May 31 at around 5:15 AM, I got to meet him again.

This was how it happened:

First of all, filming was to take place at the Biograph Theatre, where John Dillinger (Johnny Depp's character) was shot and killed. The Biograph is only two blocks from my building, and they were to be filming there for five nights. For each of those five nights, my friend Iris and I hung out at the set from at least 2:00-5:30 AM.  Five nights. An entire week of this. We neglected homework, a normal sleeping schedule, and sometimes even class itself because we were forced to sleep during the day. Why did we do this? To catch a glimpse of Johnny, yes, but we had both already met him before, so that wasn't the main purpose. We just liked being there; I mean, how often is it that you get to witness a big-budget Hollywood movie being filmed right before your eyes? A big-budget Hollywood movie that happens to be a 1930's period piece? Not to mention a Johnny Depp movie? Rarely, if ever, I'd say. We had to take advantage of this opportunity. And since it was practically in our backyard, it was pretty much screaming at us to go spend lots of time there.

These nights at the set, we mainly just conversed with the production assistants about their budding film careers, and we learned a bit more about the process of shooting a movie, in general. This was always interesting, always a good time. We didn't actually see Johnny, although he was there some of the time, until Thursday night. My Resident Advisor, Brittany, had gone with us this time, had seen him from a distance down the street at the heart of the set, and she was dying to meet him. So, when filming wrapped at 5:00 AM, we began the seven-block journey to the trailers.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "But Anne, the set is at a different location than it was back in April...how do you know where his trailer is THIS time?? You must be some sort of stalker!" I assure you, I am not. Earlier in the week I was walking to the lakefront and passed the Lincoln Park Zoo on the way; there were signs everywhere that had arrows pointing to the zoo parking lot, signs that said "CREW" and "P.E. BASE CAMP."  I looked to my right. Bam. Trailer-filled lot. Right there. Not exactly hidden. If the point of parking ten huge trailers off an extremely busy street in the ever-crowded zoo's parking lot was to be inconspicuious, they might as well have put up a big neon sign that said "THIS IS WHERE JOHNNY DEPP'S TRAILER IS" because both would have had the same effect. And that effect is this: anybody who decided to go to the lake, the zoo, or the park that week (i.e. every single resident of Lincoln Park) would know where his trailer was. Nice try, Michael Mann.

Anyway, like I said, we walked the seven blocks to the trailers. There was a group of about fifteen of us who waited around for a couple hours. We kept hearing different things from the crew. Things like, "He's here!" Also, things like, "He's not here."  Thanks, crew; you're a bundle of helpfulness. (Of course I say this out of love.) We didn't know what to do or who to believe, so we ended up staying there until 8:00 AM. We later found out that Johnny had left a long time ago and that we had just squandered precious hours standing around pointlessly when we could have been catching up on sleep. Oh well; anything's worth trying to see Johnny.

After we caught some "Z"s, we prepared ourselves for yet another all-nighter at the set. This was a Friday night. In Lincoln Park. On a street filled with bars. Right by a college campus. Why are these details relevant? Drunk people. That's why. A lot of them. This night was, by far, the worst out of the five nights I had spent at the set. It was terrible. They were yelling, getting in fights with the PAs and the security guards, a couple of them got arrested, someone ran out into the middle of the set and almost got hit by one of the 1930's cars...it was madness. I figured there wouldn't be any sort of meet and greet with this kind of behavior. And, of course, just because it's so predictable and cliché, as soon as I had these doubts, a dark blue Expedition drove by with none other than Mr. Depp himself in the backseat waving to my friends and me.

This considerably brightened our spirits and we were sparked with an ambition that we hadn't known all week. (And by "considerably brightened our spirits," I mean, "made us shit our pants with excitement and happiness.")  Two girls who Brittany had met at the set the night before joined us around 3:00 AM. We talked strategy:  Do you think he's going to do a meet and greet at the set? Should we stay here? Should we trust what the PAs tell us? Do the PAs actually know anything? When should we go to the trailers? When they've wrapped? Or earlier than that so we can get a head start? Should we even try going to the trailers again?

Before we could decide on a plan, we overheard a PA telling people that Johnny left the set and would immediately be leaving for L.A. My heart sank. But we weren't giving up so easily; we had no time to deliberate -- we knew what we had to do.

We hailed the very first cab we could find, squeezing our five bulky bodies into the one tiny car. "The zoo, please!" Brittany ordered to the driver. We got there fairly quickly, (it IS only seven blocks away), we hurriedly paid the driver, and, in full "clown car" fashion, we each got out of the cab. When we approached where we had waited last time, there was, again, a group of about 15 people. They told us that Johnny was back at the set filming. So, either the PA lied, or perhaps he didn't know what the hell he was talking about. Either way, we didn't care; Johnny was coming back to the trailers and we didn't miss anything. Whew. Another crisis averted.

We didn't have to wait too long; an Expedition soon pulled into the lot, and not long after we saw Jerry (Johnny's ballsy British bodyguard) approaching us from a distance. I started getting excited...because where there's Jerry, there's usually Johnny. He told us what I'm sure was something he has said a million and a half times before: no autographs, no posed pictures, if we do either of these things, he will pull Johnny away from us. Good deal, Jer. We got it. He told us it would be about 20-30 minutes. Then came that feeling again; that feeling that I cannot even describe in words because it's such a mixture of every possible emotion. I felt like crying, singing, laughing, screaming, jumping, passing out, and barfing simultaniously. One second I was overjoyed, the next I was anxious, then I was excited, then nervous, then in disbelief, then apprehensive; at one point I could actually feel the bile rising in my throat. Holy shit.

I thought about what to say: happy early birthday, definitely. Then I thought I should compliment him on The Brave (which was a film that Johnny directed/starred in/wrote that got terrible reviews, but it shouldn't have because it's a beautiful movie). A gazillion 21 Jump Street questions buzzed around in my mind, but I nixed those immediately because I had already gotten to ask him about Jump Street when I met him in April; I wasn't going to spend the few precious seconds I got with him this time to badger him further about the show he hated.

Around 4:30, the sun started coming up. More and more people had joined the group until there were about 30 of us total. There was a little girl in the front of the line holding a sign up that said "Mr. Depp, please come by and say 'hi'!"

There was a funny cop who kept us all entertained, doing Chris Farley impressions, quizzing us on 21 Jump Street and other Deppology, etc.

Brittany asked me what she should say. I told her that his birthday was coming up, so she could wish him happy birthday, and I told her to just be sincere. Finally, after what felt like hours of waiting, (it really wasn't; it was only about 40 minutes, I think, but fuck did it feel like hours!), up drove the Expedition. It stopped. The back passenger door opened. And there was Johnny, decked out in his striped hat, purple glasses, plaid shirt tied around his waist, and his beloved tan jacket.

It got quiet; his presence alone was enough to silence the 30 of us. We were all lined up, standing on a curb, and Johnny started making the rounds. Everyone on the curb bent forward with their cameras, trying to get a good shot of Johnny as he went down the line and greeted fans.

I couldn't hear what he was talking about with the people in the front. Some girl mentioned something about getting a JD-related tattoo, and he said, kind of smiling, "Oh, no, don't do that." It wasn't until he got to Brittany that I could hear what he was saying. Not that I really "heard"...my senses were so overwhelmed with his mere presence that I couldn't take in too much else. They hugged, and she thanked him and said, "I can't believe you're here right now!" And -- this is such a perfect "Johnny" response -- he smiled and said, "Yeah. We're ALL here!" Then he shook Iris' hand and she thanked him for coming out to meet us. He said, "No, thanks for hanging around." Brittany then said, "Happy early birthday!" He thanked her and smiled and said, "I'm gonna be 80."

I was next, but while all this was going on, the little girl from the front of the line popped up next to me, and I didn't want to push myself in front of her or anything ("MOVE, BITCH! HE'S MINE!!" Yeah, that would've made me look like a real saint,) so I motioned for her to step up to Johnny and I said nicely, "You can go," but she said she had already talked to him. Johnny saw her and said, "She is so cute!"

 
Now it was officially "my turn." I began speaking to him even before he stepped in front of me, and when he did step in front of me, he looked me right in the eyes and put his hand on my arm, (which gave me permission to put my hand on his arm as well =D). I said, "I just want to let you know that I think The Brave is an incredible movie," (Johnny smiled and said "Ohh.") I continued, "You did such a brilliant job with it." He said, "Oh, man," and, seemingly grateful of this compliment, gave me a big hug. He then smiled and said, "You're one of the seven who saw it." Everyone around us laughed at this, then he added on, "I was number six." More laughter. (And he says he's not funny!)

I must have not registered in my mind that Brittany had already wished him happy birthday, because then I wished him a happy early birthday. But I guess it didn't matter; he smiled and said "Thanks, I appreciate it." Then we shook hands and I smiled and quietly said, "Nice to meet you," which is so dumb, but it just slipped out of me. I would have been embarrassed for saying something so common (considering that the person I was saying it to was by no means a run-of-the-mill acquaintance!), but whatever potential there was for embarrassment was quickly shattered to pieces by the hug he then gave me. Swoon. Oh, Johnny.

After we broke the hug, he held my hand for a second longer and smiled at me and said, "It's a pleasure; thank you."  What?! He's thanking me?! Talk about unneccessary. He continued down the line, and I just stood there and watched. After I snapped out of my daze and picked my jaw up off the floor, I turned to my friends and said, "What did he say to me? I don't even remember." Of course, later I did remember (obviously), but at the time I was so beside myself that my brain wasn't functioning correctly.

Once Johnny got near the end of the line, people were slowly starting to circle him, closing in on him and taking pictures. I was thinking to myself "God, back up, give the guy some space," but Jerry made sure he was okay and that nothing bad happened. Iris and I slid away from Johnny and the group, inching closer towards his car. He had to go back to his car, didn't he?

As we stood there, another Expedition pulled up right by us. It stopped, and Iris and I (and only a couple other people; everyone else was too focused on Johnny to notice -- and I don't blame them!) saw that in the passenger seat was Christian Bale! We waved, but he didn't look over. The car made a U-turn and drove away, into the maze of trailers across the street. We wondered why he didn't get out and greet fans. (He probably bitterly thought to himself, "Hmph. They like Johnny better than me." And I have to say, Christian...that is true. Sorry, buddy. You're awesome, don't get me wrong, but this is Johnny FREAKING Depp we're talking about, here. You've got nothing on him. I know it's gotta be tough to hear that, but come on, don't kid yourself; you know it. I know it. You just gotta come to terms with it, man.)

After Johnny had greeted each and every person there, he and Jerry walked back to the car.

People were yelling their goodbyes and "thank you"s as he walked away, and when he got close to his car -- close to Iris and me -- I waved and said, "Goodbye, Johnny!" and he smiled and waved back at me.

He then got in the backseat, his driver turned the car around, and, with Johnny waving out the window, the car pulled out of the lot and onto the street, most likely headed to the airport so Johnny could head out to L.A. for the MTV Movie Awards (which were the next day).

My God. "Happy," "elated," nor "ecstatic" are powerful enough words to describe how I felt. The weather was beautiful, the sun was rising, I was with my friends, I had just been spoken to and been hugged by Johnny Depp...it was perfect. We walked back to our building and, on the way, we stopped by the set and talked to some of the PAs that we had become friends with. They were still there because they had been having a little "wrap party" since it was the last night filming at the Biograph. We showed them our pictures and they were impressed, albeit slightly jealous, (although they wouldn't admit that, of course).

When we got back to our dorm, it was a little after 6:00; the three of us had a tiny group hug, decided we should probably go to bed, and said "Good night -- or, morning." I mentioned how I was going to go watch some 21 Jump Street, to which Iris and Brittany both perked up at: "I've never seen 21 Jump Street! Let's watch it together!" We went in Brittany's room and watched "In the Custody of a Clown." I love that episode, and knew they would, too. The first time I met Johnny, my friends and I told him that we thought he was a woman in that episode until he started talking, and we told him how much we loved it, so it only seemed appropriate. After watching it, we went our separate ways, although I didn't actually go to sleep until hours later. I just couldn't fall asleep. I could NOT.

I don't know how the hell I got so lucky. I mean, yeah I put the time in, I made the effort, staying at the set and trailers for hours on end, until 5, 6, 7, 8 in the morning -- but so did a lot of other people. I wish it were merely my strong admiration for and dedication to Mr. Depp that made this happen, but I can't deny that some luck was involved, and I would like to take this time to thank the stars for lining themselves up perfectly for me. This is simply too good to be true. Something bad is going to happen to me really soon, it has to. An anvil or a piano is going to fall on my head. I know it. Life CAN'T be this good.