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Starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill,21 Jump Streetestablished itself as one of the best buddy cop action comedies out there. However, some may not know that the film is actually an adaptation of the namesake television series which ran from 1987 to 1991. The series starred Johnny Depp as Officer Thomas “Tom” Hanson Jr. and was responsible for turning him into a teen idol.
After a little over two decades passed since he last played Officer Tom Hanson, Johnny Depp made a return to the franchise in the 2012 action comedy. While his time in the film was limited, the cameo was as iconic as it gets. However, he had one condition before he said yes to the part.
Johnny Depp’s Wholesome Condition for21 Jump Street
Johnny Deppwas amazing in21 Jump Street,the television series, there is no doubt about that. Thus, whenPhil LordandChristopher Millerdecided to bring in an element from the original series to their film, Depp seemed like the obvious choice.
“We all thought we were gonna get fired”: Mystery Actor Got Fired Because of Johnny Depp Who Was Broke at the Time of Shooting 21 Jump Street
However, before Depp could say yes to the cameo, he had a small condition that he wanted fulfilled. No, he did not want a hefty paycheck nor did he have any diva-like demands from the directors. He simply wanted his partner from the series back – Peter DeLuise and his Officer Douglas “Doug” Penhall.
Luckily for Depp, the team of21 Jump Streetwas already thinking about bringing DeLuise back for a cameo anyway.
In abonus featurette,Johnny Depp on Set,available on the film’s Blu-Ray release, producer Tania Ladau stated,
We approached him when we thought the script was in really good shape and he said there was a condition he would only do it if Peter DeLuise was gonna do it. We were gonna ask Peter DeLuise to do it anyway so it was perfect.
Thus, the team of21 Jump Streethad no problem fulfilling Depp’s wholesome wish and as a result, we got an iconic cameo from not only Depp but DeLuise as well.
Johnny Depp Wanted His Character to Die in the Movie
Depp and DeLuise reprised their iconic roles of Officer Hanson and Penhall and went undercover as members of the motorcycle gang led by DeRay Davis’ Domingo. The gang gets into a stand-off withChanning TatumandJonah Hill’s Schmidt and Jenko and this is when Hanson and Penhall reveal themselves. Unfortunately, it didn’t end well for the two characters.
The 21 Jump Street/Men In Black Crossover We Almost Got
In the featurette, Lord and Miller stated that when they heard Depp was interested in a cameo, they tried to come up with ways they could include him in the film. In the end, they decided that it would be best to just bring his OG character back…and then kill him.
While this may have been a dealbreaker for some actors, Depp actually wanted to go down this path himself.
As Hill said in the featurette,
Luckily, that’s what he wanted. So, our original idea was that he’s about to say his first word in the movie and my gun goes off and I shoot him in the face and kill him. That was our original idea.
Well, that would have been absolutely brutal. We are glad Depp was able to get in a few lines before he and DeLuise’s Penhall were fatally shot.
Rent/buy21 Jump Streeton Prime Video. The television series is available to stream on Peacock and Prime Video.
Mishkaat Khan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2258
A connoisseur of all things horror, fantasy, and the occasional chick flick, Mishkaat has been penning pieces for FandomWire since 2022. She started off as an intern and has worked her way up to a Senior Writer with over 2000 articles to her name.Outside of entertainment, she has also written well-researched medical content as a freelance writer and has experience in social media management.When not writing, you can find her relaxing with a romance novel and a tall glass of iced coffee in her hand or watching re-runs of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Office.’
