Johnny Depp is the proud father of two kids.
The actor welcomed a daughter, Lily-Rose Depp, and a son, Jack Depp, with his former partner Vanessa Paradis before the pair split in 2012.
“I could sit there all day and do nothing but watch them grow,” Depp told Britain’s Psychologies magazine of his children in December 2008. “I’m totally inspired by them.”
Though Lily-Rose is often in the spotlight now thanks to her career, Paradis and the Pirates of the Caribbean star took pains to keep their kids away from the spotlight while they were growing up, opting to raise their family in France instead of Hollywood.
“For my children I secretly choose France. Even though Los Angeles is great too,” Paradis told Belgium’s Weekend Knack magazine in 2007. “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.”
Depp’s relationship with his children was a focus of his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, as the actor previously said that his goal in litigation was to clear his name for the sake of his kids. He told the jury, “Since I knew there was no truth to [Heard’s allegations of domestic violence] whatsoever, I felt it my responsibility to stand up not only for myself in that instance but stand up for my children, who at the time were 14 and 16.”
Get to know Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis’ kids, who Depp says are “told 75 times a day that they’re loved.”
Lily-Rose Depp, 24
Born May 27, 1999, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France, Lily-Rose Depp is a star in her own right thanks to her modeling and acting work.
A spitting image of her model-singer mother, Lily-Rose first rose to prominence in 2014 when she appeared in the movie Tusk, which also featured a cameo from her Oscar-nominated father. The following year, when she was just 15 years old, Karl Lagerfeld hired her to be one of the faces of Chanel. She has appeared in a number of French films, and is set to star as a pop star in HBO’s upcoming series The Idol alongside The Weeknd.
Lily-Rose has also made headlines for her love life. She’s most recently been linked to French rapper Yassine Stein. She previously dated Timothée Chalamet for about a year and was spotted sharing a steamy kiss with her Yoga Hosers costar Austin Butler after a dinner date in August 2021.
In 2015, Depp praised his daughter after she joined the Self Evident Project, which celebrates individuals who don’t define themselves as “100 percent straight.”
“She’s got thousands of followers on social media, and they were all taken completely by surprise,” Depp told the Daily Mail. “But 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.”
“Lily’s really together — she’s a sharp kid and one of the smartest human beings I have ever met,” he continued. “Whatever she is doing, if she needs any advice, I’m there for her. 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.”
Lily-Rose came to her father’s defense in 2016 after Heard first accused the actor of abuse. Next to a since-deleted photo of her and Depp on Instagram, she wrote, “My dad is the sweetest, most loving person I know, he’s been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who knows him would say the same.”
In November 2022, Lily-Rose told ELLE why she doesn’t feel obligated to comment on her dad’s defamation 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,” she said. “I also think that I’m not here to answer for anybody, and I feel like for a lot of my career, have really wanted to define me by the men in my life, whether that’s my family members or my boyfriends, whatever. And I’m really ready to be defined for the things that I put out there.”
Lily-Rose also opened up about how her parents “protected” her and Jack from the spotlight “as much as possible” while they were kids.
“I know my childhood didn’t look like everybody’s childhood, and it’s a very particular thing to deal with, but it’s also the only thing that I know,” she said.
In May 2023, during an interview with W Magazine, Lily-Rose described shooting a live scene for The Idol at one of The Weeknd’s sold-out concerts in Los Angeles.
“I was a nervous wreck,” she said about performing in front of 70,000 . “I was praying to all my guardian angels. I knew we only had two takes at SoFi [Stadium]. I felt like I was going to my wedding—I was so dolled up and in white!”
Lily-Rose went on to admit that she “never thought” she’d land the part of Jocelyn.
“I knew there would be many lovely ladies who are more musical than me, but I thought, I’ll give it a go,” she said. “I wanted to wear pop-star colors. And I wanted to channel a certain L.A. feeling. I grew up in L.A., and I’m an L.A. girl, and so is Jocelyn. I wanted to capture the style mix of mischief and shine.”
Later that month, Lily-Rose showed support for her dad after the premiere of his biographical drama Jeanne du Barry at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
“I’m super happy for him. I’m super excited,” Lily-Rose told ET after the film received a standing ovation. “And it’s so awesome that we get to do projects that we’re super proud of.”
Jack Depp, 21
Jack Depp was born John “Jack” Christopher Depp III on April 9, 2002, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Unlike Lily-Rose, Jack has stayed out of the spotlight and is rarely photographed. Paradis previously opened up about her desire to give her kids the option to live out of the public eye, telling Weekend Knack magazine in 2007, “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 day that they will decide for themselves to do things that might bring them into the spotlights, then I won’t stop them.”
Jack is quite close with his older sister, who revealed in Interview magazine that when she and Jack were in school in the United States, they’d often speak to one another in French. “When my brother and I were at the same school, whenever we wanted to say something that was going to stay just between us, we could say it in French and nobody would understand,” Lily-Rose said, adding that they always spoke French at home with Paradis.
Lily-Rose celebrated her brother’s 18th birthday in August 2020 with a sweet tribute on Instagram. “My little baby Jackie is 18My baby bro my heart and soul happy birthday I love you SO MUCH!” she wrote alongside a snap of the duo from when they were kids.
Depp doesn’t discuss his children publicly often, but has said he’s proud of Jack’s artistry. “My boy Jack … draws really super well. He also plays music very well. He’s got a good feel for that,” he told The Philippine Daily Inquirer in 2014. “Aside from school plays and things, he hasn’t shown any desire to become an actor. Whew!”
In 2018, Depp told Rolling Stone that one of the proudest moments of his life was when Jack announced he’d started a band and shared the group’s name with Depp.
“The kid says ‘Clown Boner,’ ” Depp told the publication. “We don’t need a paternity test. That’s my kid.”
Jack tends to keep his personal life private, though he was previously linked to model Camille Jansen in August 2020.
