Johnny Depp tried to get fired from TV show that helped make his career

While Johnny Depp has become a name everyone now knows, he first rose to fame in the 1980s on a TV programme.

The 59-year-old American actor has since admitted to deliberately attempting to get fired for the television series that helped launch his entire career.

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Depp has a huge array of characters under his belt; from Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factor - he is definitely not short of playing a prolific number of roles.

However, the Edward Scissorhands star was not always the well-known cinema presence he is today.

In 1987 a lesser known Depp embarked on the television drama series 21 Jump Street.

Lasting five seasons, Depp played the role of Tom Hanson alongside co-stars Peter DeLuise and Richard Grieco.

The series followed several LAPD higher-ups decide to send four young-looking officers to high school to pose as students.

Depp's character, Tom Hanson, was one of said officers alongside fellow detectives Doug Penhall, Judy Hoffs and Harry Truman.

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All about re-experiencing the memories of high school whilst fighting crime within it, Depp has since had some very interesting things to say about the show that made him a break-out success.

Depp likened his experience working on the show with being in a "prison", according to a rundown of "The 30 Most Embarrassing TV and Movie Roles Celebrities Regret Taking" posted by Collider.

According to the outlet, Depp never actually wanted to commit to television and he only auditioned for the cop drama because he was "broke".

He said: "I felt I was in a prison creatively."

The news outlet reports that the burgeoning star "trashed his trailer" in the hope to "get out of his contract early".

Yet, the 103-episodes-spanning series went for another four years and ended in 1991.

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While Depp may not have been over the moon to act in the television series, he can't deny that it directly launched his acting career into the one we all know and recognise today.

With that said though, Depp still ended up resuming his character of Tom Hanson in the 2012 comedy film reboot of 21 Jump Street starring Ice Cube, Dave Franco, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.

Only making a brief cameo alongside his Jump Street co-actor, Peter DeLuise, the appearance was a nice nod to the iconic 1980s show.