You may have read our report from Warner Bros.’ presentation at this year’s CinemaCon event, which included a look at footage from true-crime drama Black Mass. We mentioned how terrifying Depp looked as main man Whitey Bulger and now, via EW, there is a first look image.
**Black Mass **chronicles the story of Bulger, who masterminded a violent gang in Boston while also reportedly turning federal informant to take down rivals. It seemed to be working out well – particularly with corrupt FBI agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) helping to smooth things – but when the Bureau began making arrests, agents double-crossed Bulger and prosecuted him.
Bulger fled in 1994, was captured in 2011 in California and has since been sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus five years for his crimes.
According to director Scott Cooper, Depp managed to channel Whitey to such a degree that it was sometimes unnerving. “A lot of people on set knew Whitey intimately,” he tells EW. “They got chills at the resemblance. Some of them couldn’t even look at him.”
With Benedict Cumberbatch, Juno Temple, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott, Corey Stoll, Peter Sarsgaard and Julianne Nicholson also in the cast, Black Mass will be out in the UK on September 25.