For a long time, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis were called the most beautiful married couple in world show business. The legendary “Pirate of the Caribbean” has a history of many affairs. The French actress, singer and model Johnny Depp is also not her first beloved man.
She was romantically involved with:
- aspiring musician Florent Pagny (1988-1991);
- American singer Lenny Kravitz (1992-1997).
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis have been a model couple for many years
Vanessa Paradis is not prone to momentary romances and one-night stands. Unions, even those that did not lead to marriage, were long-lasting. But Johnny Depp became the actress’s “man of her life.” This was confirmed by separation - a real test of the sincerity of feelings. Vanessa is now married, and continues to be friends with Johnny.
After affairs with businessman David-Guy Garbi and singer Benjamin Biole, Vanessa returned to Johnny Depp. But she soon married Samuel Benchetrit, a director. Let's trace the history of the relationship between the star couple - Depp and Paradis.
Acquaintance
The union of stars cannot be called love at first sight. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis were introduced to each other at a party in 1994. The actor was fond of Kate Moss, and the French singer dated Lenny Kravitz. The two stars simply said “Hi” to each other and went their separate ways.
In one interview, Depp admitted that he was shocked by the beauty of the French woman. The next day he forgot about the meeting. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis met for the second time four years later, in the lobby of the Costes Hotel in Paris.
“She was wearing a backless dress,” Johnny recalls. “I saw the back and this neck at the end of the hall, and mentally said: “Wow!!!” The woman turned around, but I couldn’t understand whether it was an angel or a person. At that moment I only realized that my bachelor life was over.”
Johnny and Vanessa in their youth
Development of a relationship
The “spark” slipped between the two stars too clearly, and they did not delay their approach for long. Fate gave them a second chance: Depp and Paradis were busy filming the mystical blockbuster The Ninth Gate, directed by Roman Polanski.
Working together turned into love. Less than three months later, Vanessa told Johnny the good news: she was expecting a baby. The pregnancy of his beloved completely changed the life of the reveler Depp. He forgot the noisy parties and devoted himself entirely to improving the family nest.
“It was like I had an epiphany,” the actor said. “It was as if I had been wandering around in a fog all the time, from which I was finally pulled out.” In 1999, at the end of May, the daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis was born in Paris. She was given the amazing name Lily-Rose-Melody. Now (2020) the girl is 21 years old, she has become a model and is pursuing a career as a film actress.
Three years later, in April 2002, a boy was born. The son of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis was named John Christopher III. This is the actor's full name, as "Johnny" is Depp's stage name. At birth he was named John Christopher Depp II, since his father was the first in the family to bear this name.
Johnny and Vanessa with small children
In the family, Johnny and Vanessa's son was simply called Jack - in honor of the favorite character played by the actor, Jack Sparrow. Now (2020) the guy is 18, he amazes with his masculine beauty, although, unlike his older sister, he has not decided on a profession.
Journalists often asked the star couple why they did not bring their relationship to the climax - wedding. Johnny laughed it off, saying he didn’t want his wife to change such a beautiful surname (in French Paradis - “Paradise”).
A break up
The star couple lived in perfect harmony for 14 years, although it never came to the point of going to the registry office. Johnny and Vanessa lived like real spouses, having bought a house in the south of France (in Plan de la Tour, near St. Tropez), and took care of the children.
Then they bought a cozy estate in Los Angeles. But even this was not enough for Johnny. In 2005, the actor spent $3 million to purchase the island of Little Hall's Pond Cay in the Bahamas.
Johnny and Vanessa at the height of their love
However, such rich real estate did not protect Johnny and Vanessa from breaking up. Or rather, the actor’s wild nature and amorous nature began to take over. Since 2010, rumors have emerged that Depp is having affairs with his co-stars.
Some of them, like the one about Eva Green, turned out to be gossip. But the affair with Amber Heard, Johnny's partner in the film The Rum Diary, was real. In January 2012, the actor appeared alone at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony. In the spring, their breakup was confirmed by Johnny Depp's press secretary.
Vanessa flatly refused to clarify anything about the reason for the actual divorce. “I don’t want anyone to make a business out of someone else’s pain,” she said.
The stars parted peacefully, maintaining warm and friendly relations. The actor bought a house in Hollywood for his former lover and children (his daughter and son, teenagers, stayed with their mother).
Happier than with Johnny Depp: Vanessa Paradis first appeared with her new lover
Vanessa and Samuel arrived at the Locarno Film Festival.
Photo: EAST NEWS
It seemed that a difficult break with ex-husband Johnny Depp left too deep wounds in Vanessa Paradis’s soul. But life took a different turn: Johnny divorced the young homewrecker Amber Heard and whiles away the time alone. And Vanessa is happy and in love again: the new lover of the 44-year-old actress is her peer, French director and screenwriter Samuel Benchatrit. Until now, the couple has not appeared together in public. But at a festival in the Swiss city of Locarno, Paradis and Benchatri first appeared in public together. The actress and director presented their new film “Dog”.
It was this picture that brought them together. Vanessa got the lead role in “Dog” and began filming in the film last summer. On the set, a spark flashed between the director and actress, which grew into a great feeling. Already in the fall the couple began to live together.
The actress and director appeared together on the red carpet for the first time.
Photo: EAST NEWS
Neither Vanessa nor Samuel comment on their personal lives. It is known that Vanessa introduced her children from Depp to her new boyfriend - son Jack (he is 14 years old) and daughter Lily-Rose (she is 18), and they received their mother’s friend favorably.
Samuel also has children - 19-year-old son Jules and 10-year-old daughter Sol. The director's son and actress Lily-Rose's daughter quickly got along with each other, because they are practically the same age. Jules, like Lily-Rose, is already actively acting in films. Benchatri was married to the daughter of the famous French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant - he was married to Jules' mother, actress Marie Trintignant from 1998 to 2002. Marie died tragically in Vilnius in July 2003, where she was filming a television film about the life of the writer Sidonie Colette. The actress was brutally beaten by her boyfriend, Bertrand Canta, the lead singer of the French group Noir Désir. At that time, they had already been together for a year and a half. Bertrand became jealous of Marie and hit her. The woman fell and hit her head against the wall. Marie fell into a coma. She was urgently transported from a Vilnius hospital to a Paris hospital, but doctors were unable to help her. Marie died without regaining consciousness. An autopsy found the cause of death to be traumatic brain injury caused by blows to the face.
Vanessa walked around the city wearing sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat to avoid recognition.
Photo: EAST NEWS
There is another juicy detail in the novel by Vanessa Paradis and Samuel Benchatri. After her divorce from Depp, Vanessa dated musician Benjamin Biolet. In the summer of 2020, after two years of relationship, the couple broke up. Benjamin left Vanessa for 39-year-old actress Anna Mouglalis (star of the film “Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky”). And Anna - what a coincidence! - used to be the common-law wife of Samuel Benchatri, she is the mother of his daughter Sol. That's for sure, life is an unpredictable thing.
Are Depp and Paradis back together?
In January 2014, the actor had the imprudence to propose to his new passion, model Amber Heard, and in February 2015 the couple got married. But already in May 2016, a scandal broke out. Amber filed for divorce, claiming that she suffered domestic violence from her husband.
The model chose the most “fortunate” moment for this. Three days earlier, the actor’s mother died. Two women immediately spoke out in defense of the actor: his former lover, 48-year-old actress Winona Ryder and his former common-law wife Vanessa Paradis.
“I knew Johnny Depp as a kind and sensitive person, incapable of any violence. We lived happy 14 years, and I know what I'm saying. It’s a pity that now people tend to believe sensationalism more than the truth,” said the French actress.
After his divorce from Johnny, Depp moved to France to live with his ex-wife, who acted as a witness in a lawsuit against a slanderer. Tabloid journalists vied with each other to say that the star couple would live together again, and the tabloids were filled with photos of Johnny and Vanessa together in their youth.
But the forecasts did not come true. The French singer became interested in director Samuel Benchetrit and married him in 2020. At the altar, Vanessa appeared in the company of her daughter, who played the role of bridesmaid.
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis still support each other
The magical charm of Vanessa Paradis
Fragile and delicate in appearance, Vanessa is a woman with a core, firm in her beliefs and unconditional in her attitude to life. Paradis, who has charmed everyone from Karl Lagerfeld to Johnny Depp, did not achieve fame straight away. Early in her career, she had to read the phrases “Vanessa Paradis is a prostitute” written on the walls of her house, and her younger sister had to drop out of college, where she was called “the whore’s sister.” But the aspiring singer did not back down. Largely thanks to the support of his parents, Andre and Corinne Paradis.
I can never thank them enough for how much they believed in me early in my career. And their understanding and support amazes me even more today.
Vanessa talks lovingly about her family and recalls her childhood with pleasant nostalgia:
I was an only child in the family until I was 11 years old, when my sister was born. But for 11 years it was just me. I think I was a quiet child. I spent a lot of time with my parents. They took me everywhere - to dinners with friends, to poker games, everywhere... I was just with them. If not, then I stayed with my maternal grandmother, and we worked in the garden together. If I was alone, I collected bouquets, it was wonderful. I really loved it.
In 1991, Vanessa stated:
I'm Vanessa Paradis. And I'm not going to change. Maybe one day I will meet someone who will look at me differently. In the meantime, I am the eternal Lolita.
In 1995, she appeared on screens in the film “Eliza.”
I was offered many scripts, but all the directors still saw me as a half-naked Lolita, seducing all men indiscriminately.
And so, in 1998, Paradis met someone who saw in her not just a mature girl. They did not expose their relationship with Johnny Depp to the public: there were no photographs of the loving couple in the gossip column, and there was no discussion of the details of the affair in magazines. And what a surprise it was for fans and others when pregnant Vanessa announced that she was expecting a child from Depp. Their relationship was immediately dubbed the love of an angel and a demon.
We had mutual friends, we met long before our life together began. We often dined together with our little friendly group. And one day, by chance, Johnny and I returned to Paris at the same time, and it coincided that at that time we were both free. I immediately felt something unusual. No, of course, I didn’t think then: this is the father of my future children. But everything happened somehow very naturally. Before him, I had difficult romances, and in theory I should have been burned by milk and blown the water, but... this did not happen. There was no fear, no rash actions, nothing like that.
Johnny Depp reveals how he realized Vanessa was the right woman. Before that, he was with Kate Moss and Winona Ryder, but the romance with the second was superficial. They say that it was he who abandoned Winona. And something deeper and more serious connected him with Kate. But then Vanessa appeared. In a crowded room, he saw Paradis from behind and fell in love. She flew from Paris, and then flew to Paris. It was already beautiful.
They are still not married, but Depp assures that if Vanessa wishes, they will sign tomorrow. But Paradis is firm in her decision: she is confident in the fidelity of her chosen one. And she herself declares: “He was, is and will be the man of my life.” In addition, the singer says that personal space is what they give each other and what makes their relationship stable. Therefore, a single life in four houses is normal for this couple. Vanessa is in love with Johnny, and it seems this love is forever.
I can go on and on about the things I like about it. I love watching him when he thinks, when he talks to people, when he solves difficult situations. I admire him as an actor, as a father, as a man, as a person.
But Johnny is not the only one who has been fascinated by Paradis. Lagerfeld is no less delighted. Her strength, charisma, charm amaze the famous designer.
The way she lives, her charm - everything about her is seductive. Now she is a hundred times better than when she was a girl singer.
Vanessa is not far behind Karl in her adoration. She is crazy about his spontaneity, sense of humor and calls him a “big baby.”
The more you get to know Karl Lagerfeld, the more you love him. There's something special about his eyes. Yes, mostly he wears dark glasses, but when he takes them off and you see his eyes. They are pure and beautiful. Underneath all those impressive clothes, he's really just a little boy.
Having met Johnny Depp, Vanessa soon realized that the time had come for children.
I had been dreaming of motherhood for a long time, and when Johnny appeared in my life, what was supposed to happen happened.
Karl Lagerfeld, who has collaborated with Paradis since 2005, is convinced:
She became the real Vanessa Paradis after giving birth to children. There was a magic in her that only comes with age.
The magical flair surrounding Vanessa is felt in everything. Perhaps this is achieved due to the fact that it is not characterized by conventions.
It is important for me to feel comfortable. Everyone likes to look in the mirror and see what pleases the eye. But I also need to feel joyful.
Since childhood, Vanessa loved to dress up. And now the main thing for her is not to be fashionable, but to dress beautifully. She keeps a velvet dress from the twenties, in which she says she looks stunning.
Yes, yes - I collect and store everything. It's not very good because you can get lost in your wardrobe, but some things are very important to me, especially stage costumes.
Vanessa and Johnny live in four houses - Paradis loves traveling, and also does not like to be constantly surrounded by the same things. The couple does not lead an open social life typical of show business. Vanessa herself feels awkward when she has to attend various events or communicate with other celebrities.
The red carpet is not something I know how to walk on. He scares me. I feel tiny. I don't have famous neighbors, and if I did, I would avoid them. I don't live a social life.
But Vanessa does not lead a stagnant life. Actress, singer, face and ambassador of Chanel, Paradis perfectly combines career and family life, although she calls herself a lazy person.
I really take care of myself, much more actively than before. After many years of smoking, I quit four years ago—hopefully for good. I love yoga and Pilates. I have cassettes and I do the exercises on them myself.
The strength of Vanessa Paradis is felt in everything: in her harmonious attitude to life, light but captivating charm, mature charm. In achievements and love. She has no time for conventions. Paradis is not afraid to live and take from life all the best and most pleasant things for her. Vanessa moves up in small steps. She is happy that she does not have to choose what to do - Paradis is an actress, singer, and model. She wouldn't trade her life for anything. Because she is Vanessa Paradis.
I feel more confident and calmer than I did at twenty. Not because I gave up something, I just learned to live in peace with myself, to accept myself as I am. It’s always with you,” says Vanessa, tightening the skin on her face with her fingers, like plastic surgeons. - Age, wrinkles. But this is only external - behind the wrinkles is what you have achieved in life, what place you have taken in it. Personally, I can look at myself in the mirror. Well, also because she’s not very old yet.
