Hollywood star Johnny Depp gets candid about empty-nest syndrome and fatherhood

Jun 27, 2025
Depp admits he suffers from empty nester syndrome despite a hugely successful acting career. Source: AP PHOTO.

It had to happen sometime but for Hollywood actor Johnny Depp, it came too soon.

The 62-year-old actor has built a career playing quirky outsiders but in a recent interview, the Pirates of the Caribbean star admitted his favourite role is family man, a role that’s changed now that his two children are grown.

Depp opened up to the Sunday Times newspaper where he discussed the challenges of empty-nester syndrome and why he misses the days when his children were young enough to call him “papa”.

“Years get away from us, don’t they?… I’m of the empty-nest syndrome,” he said as per the newspaper.

The notoriously fame-shy actor, who shares 25-year-old Lily-Rose and 22-year-old Jack with ex-partner Vanessa Paradise, also recalled his happiness at raising young children in Paradise’s native homeland of France.

“Oh man, my kids growing up in the south of France in their youth?” he said.

“I was Papa. I cannot tell you how much I loved being Papa. Then, suddenly, Papa was out the window. I was Dad.

“But Papa was awesome and I’m getting old enough for Papa to possibly come back. Some motherf***er’s going to have to call me Papa!”

While the Finding Neverland star currently lives in London, he admitted France is the only place that felt like home.

“Well, I don’t spend much time in the US. So there is the joint in the Bahamas or here,” he explained.

“But home. Truly, the first time I felt I had a home was the place in the south of France where Vanessa and I raised the kiddies.

“That’s the only place that ever felt like home.”

His daughter, Lily-Rose has followed in his footsteps and is a successful actor in her own right, however, Depp never wanted her to go into show business.

“Sometimes kids say to me, ‘I want to be an actor, what’s your advice?’ And I say, ‘Don’t be!’ I know what’s coming for them,” he said.

“I was chucked on that road and the only advice that I can give is, ‘Don’t allow anyone to make you something you are not.’ They’ll want you to be a poster boy and it’s tempting – a lot of money.

“And if that’s the direction you want? Go for it. But don’t let anybody choose for you.”

Although Depp’s struggles may come as a surprise to some, many older people have talked about the mix of pride and loneliness that come when adult children leave the family home.

Clinical Psychologist and CEO of Relationships Australia NSW, Elisabeth Shaw stressed that this stage in life can bring “about mixed feelings and will take time to adjust”.

“Initially many grieve the loss, and fear the relationship could flounder,” Shaw said.

Yet many are embracing this new stage in life, as confirmed by the recent findings of The Empty Nesters Report 2024 found that 70 per cent of those surveyed were enjoying the extra time that comes with their children living out of home.

However, Shaw pointed out that certain factors will influence the success of this transition, such as, “whether the move is for positive reasons, the relationships are on good terms, and there is a good connection that offers reassurance that contact will be maintained, will all help ease worry and sadness.”

-with BANG.

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