Tim Burton and Johnny Depp (small scale research project) -Books

Actor Johnny Depp is one of the most commonly used actors in Tim Burton's films. Does this make him an auteur and are there reasons for it?

Books

• "Tim Burton Interviews -edited by Kristian Fraga". - Includes many interviews from different people throughout Burton's career.

1. Page 39- Burton's Edward Scissorhands (feature film) is discussed as well as the plot which helps explain one part of my question. It explains how this story was personal to Burton as this is how he often felt as a teen, therefore needed somebody such as Depp to portray his emotions (this stated later on in the book) - "This gave Burton the freedom to direct Edward Scissorhands, a profoundly personal project he'd first conceived as a teenager. A simple fairytale gift-boxed in a sophisticated design package, the story concerned a castle-bound boy with shears for hands, who's plucked from his fortress of his solitude by an angelic Avon lady and thrust into the banal wonders of suburbia. Yearning and sentimental, the movie felt like Burton's ache, and was affectingly played by a cast that included...and Johnny Depp." 
2. Page 132- Depp speaks about films and how he wants to make them with emotion, Burton talks about Depp and his creative input's to the characters he plays. Talks about character Ichabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow (2nd film) and refers to Depp not being 'prim and perfect'. - "...makes an actor an A list star. 'Maybe I'm a dummy,' says Depp...'But I don't worry that a lot of my films haven't had big results at the box office, because I'm not a businessman. Believe me, I would love for one of my movies to be accepted by a wide audience, but I'm not going to do a film just because it's going to do that.' That's fine with Burton. 'Johnny isn't going to be the same in every movie. Plus, there's freedom with someone who's not concerned about how they look in a movie....Actually, if it were up to him, he'd look a lot worse.' Depp initially wanted to play Ichabod Crane with a long prosthetic snipe nose, huge ears, and elongated fingers. Not surprisingly, tos suggestions were shot down. But after he read....the actor (Depp) was inspired to take the character further."
3. Page 156-7- More discussion about Edward Scissorhands and how the film is personal to Burton. - "Following the phenomenal success of Batman, Burton make Edward Scissorhands, a modest fairytale staring Johnny Depp. One of Burton's most admired films and his most personal, it's the story of a misfit who has scissors instead of hands and can't get close to people without accidentally hurting them.."
4. Page 171- Question asked by Kristine McKenna about Burton and Depp's relationship and why Burton always casts Depp for a main or important role in his films.- "Playboy: What's the basis of the bond between you and Johnny Depp that enables you to work together so successfully? Burton: I realised something about Johnny when he played Edward Scissorhands, which is that he has baggage too. He looks a certain way, but who he is goes far beyond his appearance. There's a lot going on with Johnny. I think I respond to the fact that he's perceived a certain way but isn't really that way, and I also love that as an actor he doesn't care how he looks-he has a real freedom in that regard. We've done three films together- Scissorhands in 1990...and Sleepy Hollow in 1999-and he's been completely different in all of them. I'm excited by all the possibilities with Johnny."
5. Page 185- Question asked by audience member in 2003 about working with the same/different people. Burton refers to Depp.- "Audience member: Do you like working with actors that you've worked with before, or new people? Burton: Well, both. You know, what's fun about working with somebody like Johnny [Depp], whom I've worked with three times, is that you get to see them do different things each time. And that's a real energy that's unique to that specific kind of thing. When you work with people that like playing characters, it's a lot of fun to see them change...it's just a lot of fun."

• "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (Updated Edition)- Preface by Jason Solomons, General Editor - Steven Jay Schneider."

1. Page 791- Edward Scissorhands.- "...Edward Scissorhands, a decidedly left-of-center fairytale that remains the most whimsical and touching film of Burton's career so far. The Edward of title (Johnny Depp) is not a man at all, but the creation of The Inventor...Edward looks human enough, except for one detail-he has scissors instead of hands-and he lives a solitary life in a crumbling mansion high above the neighborhood of pastel coloured houses..."