What drew you to Sweeney Todd?
Burton: I was actually involved with this about ten years ago, maybe even longer. I liked the story and the drama and emotion of it—I just loved it. But then it just went away. I always think there’s a weird subconscious reason for everything. Recently, weirdly, I looked at a drawing I did and I realised that it looked like Johnny. And I just thought, ‘Wow!’ And then I don’t know how many years ago…

Depp: Five, six years ago, I guess…
Burton: I sent him the CD (of the musical). And then Johnny was like, ‘Great, great, great.’ And everybody was, ‘Yeah, great.’ And then it was like, ‘Um, can he sing?’ Nobody knew. I didn’t know. So that’s the joke of the whole thing and in a way that's the surreal nature of Hollywood, so you have to love it for that because on paper it’s like the worst idea of all time (laughs).

Johnny, there’s a whole mythology around the character about whether or not he was based on someone who was real. Did you use any of that?
Depp: I read all that stuff and there was part of me that reads all that stuff and wants him to be a real guy, you know, you go, ‘Yes, please let him be real, I’d really love that.’ But it’s not the case. And, basically, you read all of that stuff so you can throw it away, so you can be aware of it and toss it. Basically, the character came from conversations with Tim.

How did you arrive at the way Sweeney would look?
Burton: It’s our love of those old horror movies and trying to create an iconic character. You see Peter Lorre in Mad Love or you see Boris Karloff or Lon Chaney, all those old classic monsters… it’s an image and we just felt like that was what this character is about— you could see him in a wax museum and that’s perfect. It’s a certain look, a certain feel, and it’s always exciting. That’s what’s great, he’s always into that.

Johnny, when Tim first mentioned the prospect of singing on film to you, did you get the idea immediately?
Depp: Oh, yeah. I got the idea. But, basically, I was trying to figure it out. I mean, I knew I wasn’t tone deaf because I play music and play guitar and all, but I didn’t know if I was going to be able to actually sing. I wasn’t sure. When we first talked, I said, ‘Let me try, let me investigate it, and I’ll send you something and see how you feel.’ And then we can talk about it. I sent him ‘My Friends’…

Burton: Which was great….

So you recorded the music down first so that you had it to play back on set?

 Yeah, and that was an aspect of it that was really fun. It was like making a silent movie and having music on the set. It was fascinating for me to watch the actors and it felt like an old fashioned movie— again, it affects movement; it actually helps the crew. It kind of galvanises everything, and I actually found it quite liberating.

Some people might think, ‘Oh you are restricted by everything…’  But it was incredibly liberating and fun to watch because you just move different when you are hearing music. It’s like I would consider doing it even I was wasn’t making a musical now, because it’s quite fascinating to watch.

Johnny, did you sing along with yourself again when you were doing a take?
Depp: Unfortunately, yes (laughs). I don’t know how other people do it because I’ve never done anything like this in my life before. But I felt like if I was just mouthing it the camera would see it and also you would be faking it on some level and you wouldn’t be committed to what you were doing. Basically, it was horrifically mortifying at times and the poor guy who does the sticks and the focus pullers who are like five inches away from your head and you are belting it out and you just feel like a complete ass but it’s necessary…

Burton: But it's important, really important. That was the brilliance. Everybody got that and that was a big deal. The other actors did the same thing because you can see it in their throat, see it in their chest, that’s why it’s so important and it’s all about what’s inside coming out. I mean, that's what this musical is. We cut out a lot of the Broadway-ish aspects of it where the crowd is singing and that sort of thing because it's really about the characters and what's inside. They are all kind of repressed and it's important that you see it. You see his throat and you feel it coming out of the guy.

Sweeney Todd is a very dark character, to state the obvious, but there’s also humour and pathos to him, isn’t there? 
Depp: He’s misunderstood! (laughs)
Burton: It’s a tragic love story.
Depp: He’s actually horribly misunderstood because really he’s a very sweet guy.
Burton: He’s a damaged individual.
Depp: He’s basically been dead since his life was taken away from him all those years before.
Burton: He’s Dead Man Walking …
Depp: It’s the only reason he has continued breathing, to wreak vengeance!
Burton: There’s something very real about it, too. Obviously, it’s fantasy and he looks strange and all of that, but, I don’t know, what I love about it is there’s something very primal and just real about the character, which I love.