Credit: 21 Jump Street/Fox
Johnny Depp has become known for some of the most significant movies in film and franchise history, but one of the earliest roles of Johnny Depp helped skyrocket to fame has been largely ignored in comparison to the other work from the method actor. That earlier role that helped Johnny Depp become the household name he is today was 21 Jump Street, and while the title may be more related to Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum due to their reboot of the original series, which also got a sequel. Below, we’ve detailed Johnny Depp and 21 Jump Street, the reboot that featured Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, and the potential future for the series or films.
Credit: 21 Jump Street/Fox
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp could be noted for more than a handful of roles across television and movies, with his collaborations with Tim Burton alone. However, 21 Jump Street has been largely credited for the success of then-teenage heartthrob Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp’s first role in his career was in A Nightmare on Elm Street, and it wasn’t until three years later that Johnny Depp was cast as the lead role in 21 Jump Street in 1987. For a total of 80 episodes, Johnny Depp carried out the role of Officer Tom Hanson. He was in each season of the series, except for the fifth season, which coincidentally was more for first-run syndication over Fox as with seasons one through four. Outside of 21 Jump Street, Johnny Depp has done little to barely any television work, and certainly, nothing towards the end of which he was involved with 21 Jump Street or as pivotal to his career as the series was. Endlessly nominated Johnny Depp has, however, had appearances on several other television shows, a large portion of which were surprisingly voice-acting roles. From King of the Hill in 2004, up to 2022 with a sequel of Puffins, a spinoff of Arctic Dogs that consisted of 250 five-minute episodes, as well as roles on SpongeBob SquarePants and Family Guy in between. Also, in between his first and most recent voice acting roles, Johnny Depp appeared in the British mockumentary Life’s Too Short as his only television acting role since The Fast Show in 2000.
Credit: 21 Jump Street/Fox
21 Jump Street Series
21 Jump Street, the original Fox series, as stated above, ran for five seasons, four with Johnny Depp in the lead role, and also inspired the spinoff Booker, which followed the character’s departure from 21 Jump Street but the show only lasted for one season. Overall, 21 Jump Street followed a department of cops undercover in high schools, colleges, and similar hangouts and areas due to their youthful appearances. Throughout the five seasons of 21 Jump Street, only one character remained as the main character, while most had left the show when Johnny Depp had, except for the exception of a recurring character in season 5 from the previous seasons. Today most people associate 21 Jump Street with comedy, or even action, tags that aren’t often linked to the 21 Jump Street series due to the outrageous comedy that was the 21 Jump Street movies. The original 21 Jump Street series with Johnny Depp, from which he tried to get fired, was more of an overall crime drama than comedy or action, but of course, it had its standard cop drama action.
Credit: 21 Jump Street/Sony
21 Jump Street Film Series
21 Jump Street, the film series, was in a whole other realm compared to the original 21 Jump Street. It was fueled almost entirely by comedy, as noted by its co-stars, and it had an extremely underwhelming sense of drama, but the element was still present. Interestingly, and a bit out of character for the usual Johnny Depp role since his departure from the original 21 Jump Street series, Johnny Depp appeared in an uncredited cameo in the 21 Jump Street movie as a member of another undercover operation, as well as other agencies, happening alongside the operation. As comedy was the driving force behind the movie that was created from the franchise, which also helped bring forward the comedy-action hybrid that’s even more popular now. The general concept of older adults infiltrating high schools and other events that teenagers hang out at has an almost comedy lining to it alone, so the adaptation from television to overall comedy movie was too far off in concept or plot. Even after the sequel to the movie was released, 22 Jump Street, the credits of the film suggested, or maybe just leaned into its comedy elements, that several, if not infinite, sequels of the 21 Jump Street movie series could continue down numerous different roads. Various sequel titles showcased and highly unlikely to ever be fulfilled included 23 Jump Street: Medical School, 30 Jump Street: Flight Academy, 43 Jump Street: Mariachi School, 2121 Jump Street, and even one where Jonah Hill’s character left and was re-casted by Seth Rogen.
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