Johnny Depp: ‘I want young Native Americans to be inspired by Tonto’

Johnny Depp hopes his portrayal of Tonto in The Lone Ranger inspires young Native Americans to strive for greatness in their lives, because he partly took on the sidekick character to give them a role model. The movie star packed on muscle to play the calm and collected Indian hero because he wanted to show kids growing up poor on reservations that they can really make something of their lives.
He tells Rolling Stone magazine, “I wanted him to be no joke. First of all, I wouldn’t f**k with someone with a dead bird on their head. Second of all, he’s got the f**king paint on his face, which scares me.
“I wanted to maybe give some hope to kids on the reservations. They’re living without running water and seeing problems with drugs and booze. But I wanted to be able to show these kids, ‘F**k that! You’re still warriors, man.'”
Depp’s efforts paid off – he became an honorary member of the Comanche tribe while he filmed The Lone Ranger in New Mexico last year (May12).