Film A-listers say music - not acting - keeps them sane

Depp's "first love" was rock 'n' roll after getting a guitar aged just 12 and after years devoted to his film career, the 'Rum Diary' actor claims he's never felt better now he's back in the studio making music with the likes of Ryan Adams and Marcus Mumford.

In a special chat for Interview magazine conducted by Iggy Pop, Johnny - who opened for the godfather of Punk with his old band the Kids as a teenager - revealed how music has changed his life.

He explained: "I've been playing a lot of music lately. It's a real lifesaver, being able to focus on my first love. It's freedom. And immediate - yeah, f**k, we captured it. I suppose that's it, capturing something.

"I've been writing and recording with Ryan Adams a lot lately. Ryan is incredibly prolific and he's just a pure soul, he's just this being. He's got a great handle on it. And is taking good care of himself. But what a talent, man. I'm amazed by the f**ker.

"And then, here and there I'm doing some stuff with Alice [Cooper], which is really fun. Also with Marcus Mumford, who's amazing."

The 50-year-old actor - who is engaged to actress Amber Heard - and Iggy next met on the set of 'Cry-Baby' in 1990 and have been firm friends and collaborators ever since, but the 'Edward Scissorhands' star reminded him that their first meeting didn't go quite so well.

He told his musical idol: "After the gig you were walking around the club, and I was standing at the bar, all of 17 years old, guzzling as much spirits as I could to get up the nerve to talk to you. And I remember making the horrific decision in my teenage drunken state to go, 'Well, I'll just get his attention.'

"I started going, 'I-I-Iggy Pop, Piggy Slop', you know? You walked towards me and put your face about a quarter of an inch from mine and just went, 'You little turd.' And not only was it exactly the reaction that I deserved, but it was the one I wanted. I had a moment with you."

Meanwhile, Michelle Williams said she found filming a musical number for 'My Week with Marilyn' stopped her worrying about her performance.

She was delighted to be asked to play Sally Bowles in a Broadway revival of 'Cabaret' as she knew she'd be able to experience the same freedom again.

She said: "Singing and dancing take you out of your head--you're too busy doing too many other things to be thinking, How am I doing? You're just doing. It's like meditation.

"When 'Cabaret' came along, with these gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous songs -- they're so simple, but they tap into something deep and emotional -- I knew that I wanted to follow that thing I tasted a few years ago."

Michelle - who has eight-year-old daughter Matilda with her late former partner Heath Ledger - is enjoying every second of rehearsals for the production - but doesn't know if she'll feel the same once her nerves kick in.

Speaking to America's Vogue magazine, she said: "I haven't been confronted with the nerves yet, so now the singing is just pure joy.

"Honestly, it feels like being a kid. Now let's see if I can be a kid onstage eight times a week."

Michelle said: "A friend told me that when Natasha was debating whether or not to do this role, her mother said, 'Darling, when they ask you to play Sally Bowles, you play Sally Bowles'.

"So I pretended that Vanessa Redgrave was my mother and followed her advice -- who knows when the chance will come around again?"