The son of John Christopher, a city engineer and Betty Sue Palmer, a waitress and homemaker (Depp has a tattoo of his mother's name on his left arm), young Johnny relocated to Florida, with his three older siblings. The family moved to Florida shortly after the death of Depp's grandfather, with whom the future actor was very close. Despite the ups and downs of his personal life, Depp’s professional fortunes have gone from strength to strength since the early 1990s, although he has consistently spurned the more predictable Hollywood lead roles in favour of the more quirky, off-beat parts at which he excels. He was widely acclaimed for his portrayal of an undercover cop in Donnie Brasco, where he played opposite Al Pacino’s mobster character. Interestingly, Johnny spent time hanging out with the real-life “Brasco”, Joe Pistone in order to research his movie role more thoroughly. After the success of Donnie Brasco, Depp got the chance to direct for the first time in The Brave, a film in which he also starred as a Native American Indian alongside Marlon Brando. Interestingly, Depp also wrote the screenplay, in conjunction with his brother DP, a budding scriptwriter. Since his directorial debut, Johnny has also directed several music videos for his wife Vanessa.