The multiple Oscar-nominee has already impressed a slew of critics with his performance, garnering a Golden Globe nomination for the new Tim Burton-helmed feature.

By Jonathan Zipper

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 12/19/07 – “‘The Sound of Music’ with blood!” is exactly how Tim Burton described his latest feature, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” starring Johnny Depp.

Burton wrote the 1993 animated film “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” so working on a musical was not an entirely new experience for him. However, it was certainly uncharted territory for Depp, who is more comfortable sailing into the unknown as Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series.

“I didn’t know if I could sing,” Depp told Hollywood Today. “I had a feeling that because of my background in music that I could hit a note or two. I didn’t know if I could sustain a note. I really didn’t know if I could pull it off.”

While Burton had no idea what to expect from his leading man, he always felt assured that Depp would likely succeed in his vocal endeavors.

“I had absolutely no idea if he could sing,” said Burton. “I mean, he said he thought he could do it. I worry about a lot of things, but I strangely did not fear that at all.”

That support and confidence helped ease Depp into the role. “[Burton] said: ‘It doesn’t matter if you know how to sing, just sing’ …so that’s what I did,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Although an extremely accomplished actor, Depp worried whether he would be able to do justice to the part of “Sweeney” because many other performers have stepped into those shoes before him.

“It was challenging,” he explained. “There have been a lot of different Sweeneys over the years. Tim and I sat down early-on and thought ‘what’s this guy gonna look like?’ We knew it was a pretty special opportunity, a once in a lifetime kind of thing… a horror-slash-musical.”

As far as Burton is concerned, Depp knocked the performance out of the park – capturing the essence of classic horror film actors, such as Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney.

“I have to say, this was one of my favorite characters that he’s done,” revealed Burton. “I mean, we talked a long time about old horror movie actors. The idea of Johnny doing a character like one of those kind of characters was really exciting. We never saw it as dark, it was more kind of exhilarating and fun… and having music on the set, I just thought was very exhilarating.”

Though neither apparently thought of “Sweeney Todd” as bleak, Depp and Burton have previously teamed up on five other projects, including “Edward Scissorhands” and the recent remake of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Despite their jovial attitudes, macabre themes and undertones have become recurring characteristics of their collaborations.

“It’s funny, a little bit, isn’t it?” Burton asked rhetorically. “When you’re going down the abyss of depression, it’s nice to still have a sense of humor about it.”

Additionally, Johnny Depp’s knowledge of blades from “Scissorhands” came in handy once more.

“Having worked with sharp objects before… everything was fine until I had to shave someone,” he joked.

According to Burton, the real on-set problem for the star came with a less invasive object. “He didn’t have trouble with the razors, he was freaked out by the shaving cream,” he said teasingly.

Depp quickly joined in with laughter, adding: “It made me real nervous. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life.”

With the on-going writers’ strike, the future of Depp’s upcoming projects “Shantaram” and “The Rum Diary” are on hold, though he believes work on the latter could commence soon.

Meanwhile, Tim Burton is currently celebrating the birth of a baby girl with wife Helena Bonham Carter and still riding the high of his achievements with “Sweeney Todd.”

“The joy for me has been the film,” he said. “I feel lucky to have [had] the opportunity to do this particular project with these particular people. For me, that’s the reward that I get – trying to just bask in the glow of that, at the moment. These kind of projects don’t come along all the time.”