Johnny Depp's 'Life as a Single Man Was Done' When He Saw Vanessa Paradis — They Split When He Met Amber Heard

Johnny Depp stopped being a single man when he met and fell in love with Vanessa Paradis. However, he wasn't destined to make her his wife and instead started dating someone else in secret before they separated.

By 1998, Johnny Depp had gotten his wild and single days out of his system. He became a changed man when he was invited to France to film Roman Polanski's "The Ninth Gate," but the movie wasn't what impacted him.

Instead, Depp recalled how he saw a woman in France who attracted him from the get-go. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star shared a nostalgic memory that occurred while at the Hotel Costes.

The actor shared, "She was wearing a dress with an exposed back, and I saw that back and that neck, and then she turned around, and I saw those eyes, and — boom!" Depp added:

"My life as a single man was done."

He explained how he had a feeling he couldn't define, but it was what he felt when he met the woman who would be his girlfriend. The star had seen her across the room and wondered what was happening to him.

The woman who'd caught his eye was Vanessa Paradis. She was a model, a French singer, an actress, and a friend of Depp's pal that he'd arranged to meet for a drink.

That same year, Paradis and Depp became a couple. The actress later spoke to The Times about how she and Depp had shared immediate chemistry and connection before even meeting, stating:

"The thing is, I loved him before I was with him, but we had met."

The model recalled their first meeting and when he shook her hand. Paradis felt he was the one instantaneously and that he not only looked good but everything about him was good, adding:

"He was so sweet, so different. He just seemed like a good person. I just knew... there was no one better."

THE REASON WHY JOHNNY AND VANNESA NEVER MARRIED

Depp and Paradis never tied the knot and seemed to have a healthy and happy family life regardless. In 2010, Depp opened up to Extra about why they never married, saying, "[I] never found myself needing that piece of paper."

The star explained that he felt marriage was a heart-to-heart and soul-to-soul thing for him. Therefore he didn't need someone from the outside to tell them they were married.

In a previous 2011 interview, Paradis revealed that she shared Depp's sentiments about marriage. She confessed that a wedding was romantic and the reception was fun, but "it's a bit like the idea of a soulmate: I can't picture it for me."

The singer shared how she knew many married people who tore each other apart in their unions. She explained how ceremonies didn't matter to her because all she needed was love.

By 2011, Paradis and Depp had been together for 13 years! The couple had two children, and during a previous Daily Mail interview, the "Edward Scissorhands" star said their children were healthy, happy, and appeared to be on the right life paths.

He described his girlfriend as loving, supportive, and talented. The star noted how they'd been together for almost 14 years but that it seemed like they'd only met the day before, then explained what made him happy about their relationship.

Depp said his favorite thing with his girlfriend was to have a glass or two of wine before dinner while watching the sunset, with the children playing close by. The actor described such a moment as "perfection."

Sadly, that perfection wasn't meant to last as the pair separated by June 2012. Depp's publicist revealed the former couple was "amicably" choosing to go their separate ways after the actor had met Amber Heard in 2011 on "The Rum Diary's" set.

Before the couple's relationship ended, Paradis confessed how she could make endless lists of why she admired Depp. She said they understood that if they wanted their relationship to progress, they needed to give each other space.

The actress noted how they had to allow one another to go away on their own and keep the trust. According to a People magazine source, the former couple started drifting into living separate lives after moving to Los Angeles from France.

DEPP AND PARADIS' CHILDREN

During their relationship, Paradis and Depp welcomed daughter Lily-Rose Melody and son John "Jack" Christopher Depp. Lily-Rose was born on May 27, 1999, while Jack joined the family on April 9, 2002.

Depp's daughter followed in her parents' footsteps by becoming a famous actress and model. In 2014, she appeared alongside him in the film "Tusk" before reprising her role in the 2016 spinoff "Yoga Hosers."

In a 2000 French Elle magazine interview, the "Lost in La Mancha" actor revealed that he wanted his children to learn about American and French cultures. He said French would be his children's native language but that it was important they could speak English too.

Depp also wanted his children to know his native country but didn't want them to grow up in it. He felt America was too greedy, nuts, and "too much everything" while living with his family in France.

JOHNNY'S SECRET RELATIONSHIP WITH AMBER

Heard once revealed that she fell in love with Depp during their 2011 press tour for "The Rum Diaries." The duo was "secretly dating" before Depp and Paradis went public about their separation.

Heard said, "We were in a bubble of secrecy." Even though both Depp and the actress had been in serious relationships at the time, that allegedly didn't stop him from sending her numerous gifts.

Heard and Depp eventually reconnected about two years later for another press tour. By then, both stars had broken up with their previous partners and progressed into a relationship.

They were so in love that Depp did something he'd previously advocated against - marriage. The couple got engaged in 2014 before tying the knot the following year.

However, as fast as the couple had come together, their marriage fell messily apart. Within 15 months, Heard had filed for divorce and gotten a restraining order against her ex-husband.

She claimed he'd been physically and verbally abusive throughout their relationship. At one point, the police were called over to Depp and Heard's apartment at the actress' request.

Depp wasn't pleased with his ex-wife's allegations and refuted them. However, he was more worried about Jack, 14 at the time, because he imagined it wasn't easy for Jack while he had to go to school with the drama happening around him.

From her [Vannesa Paradis'] personal experience and many years of knowing him [Johnny Depp], the actress insisted that he'd never been abusive to her.

The actor worried the little boy would be confronted by his schoolmates with magazines that said Depp beat up women. The star felt his son and daughter didn't deserve to go through all that.

VANESSA STOOD UP FOR JOHNNY FROM AMBER'S ACCUSATIONS

One person who stood with Depp during his defamation lawsuit against Heard was Paradis. The case came up after Heard wrote a 2019 op-ed for The Washington Post characterizing herself as a victim of domestic abuse.

Paradis sent in a declaration on behalf of her ex-boyfriend, explaining how she'd known him for over 25 years and been with him romantically for 14. She shared how they'd raised two children together.

The singer claimed throughout those years, Depp had been generous, kind, attentive, and a "non-violent person and father." She said she was aware of Heard's public allegations that had gone on for over four years.

Paradis shared how there was "nothing like the true Johnny" she'd known. From her personal experience and many years of knowing him, the actress insisted that he'd never been abusive to her.