‘I feel very lucky’: Johnny Depp on playing Louis XV in ‘Jeanne du Barry’

Actor Johnny Depp shared his experience of being part of Jeanne du Barry and said he felt "strangely, oddly, perversely lucky" to have been offered the role of French King Louis XV at the U.K. premiere of his film, reported Variety.

Jeanne du Barry is a historical drama film written, directed, and produced by Maiwenn and starring herself and Johnny Depp in the leading roles.

It also stars Pierre Richard, Benjamin Lavernhe, Noemie Lvovsky, Pascal Greggory, Melvil Poupaud, and India Hair.

Depp along with the film's co-star and director Maiwenn on stage at the Curzon theatre in Mayfair, briefly introduced the film.

"I feel very lucky to have been [offered the role] - strangely, oddly, perversely lucky," he said on stage in London during a rare public appearance. "Because when Maiwenn and I first actually met and talked about the notion of me doing the film and playing Louis XV, the King of France -- see that's when instantly what happens in your brain is you instantly go back to Kentucky, where, like, everything is fried. So you realise that you've come from the bellybutton of nowhere and suddenly you end up playing the King of France."

"It made no sense to me, I tried to talk her out of it," he continued. "But she wasn't hearing it and she had great courage to take me into her cast. Whatever we did, whatever we experienced I think and I hope you'll find it was well worth the agony of this kid trying to make a film for that length of time."

Maiwenn also made a brief speech in which she explained she had wanted to make Jeanne du Barry since 2016, explaining she was "obsessed by Jeanne for many years because she was a feminist before everybody else."

The film, one of Depp's first after his protracted legal fight with ex-wife Amber Heard, premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival, when the actor and director received a seven-minute standing ovation, reported Variety.