I watched in disbelief as he nodded “yes”, his dark eyes crinkling into a smile behind those famous blue-tinted lenses as his arm circled my back with his silver skull-ringed fingers grabbing my waist. Johnny Depp was hugging me as we posed for a photo and I was doing all I could not to pass out.

And John Christopher Depp II really is one of the nicest Hollywood superstar A-listers. After all, he signed autographs and posed for photos with a gaggle of excited international press at the Bishop’s Lodge Ranch Resort & Spa in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he was promoting Gore Verbinski’s revisionist big screen update of The Lone Ranger.

The rebellious unwilling Teen Beat magazine cover boy heart-throb who achieved proper indie credibility recently turned 50. And now seems to be more at peace than ever with his blockbuster bankability.

“I do smoke the peace pipe. As often as possible. Because I like peace,” he joked.

Yes, Depp is a man unchanged by the weight of global fame, who famously does not watch his own movies, and who shoots straight from the hip. And perhaps that’s what makes him so undeniably sexy and intriguing.

“I’m intrigued by everything really. It doesn’t take much for me. I’m a pretty cheap date,” he said.

“But no, I mean if you lose curiousity in life — you can be fascinated by whatever, you keep your curiousity in life, it keeps you young beyond numbers. Thank you. I’m 60!”

Perhaps Vanity Fare magazine summed it up best: “He smiles a smile that is his own. He is just Johnny, and, in truth, Johnny is character enough”.

Ain’t that the truth.

Q: So you were officially made an honorary member of the Comanche tribe?

A: And I am so grateful. The culture, for the example, of the Comanches, were not always as welcomed as part of the nation. But really adopting what that means, what it’s meant since that day, has given me so much in my life you know, I’m not a particularly a spiritual person. But the only church I have even seen that makes sense to me is the sweat lodge (a traditional centre for prayer). I think they have been on a right track for a long time and we all missed it…

Q: Were you worried at all about how some might perceive your portrayal of Tonto as essentially “a red version of black face”?

A: Was there fear or some repercussion of my portrayal? There already has been. But it’s okay. I expected it. I still expect it. But as long as I know I have done no harm and represented, at the very least, the Comanche nation in a proper light. There are always going to be naysayers. Everybody has an opinion. There is a great Christopher Hitchens quote: “Everybody does have a book in them, but in most cases that’s where it should stay.” So, I mean, people can critique and dissect and do what they want. I know I approached it in the right way. And that’s all I can do.

Q: What was it like when you first saw yourself in full makeup as the elderly Tonto? Especially since you’re still so youthful looking.

A: Bless you! (laughs) Actually in the old man, I saw my great-grandmother. She did apparently have quite a bit of Indian blood and long braids and tobacco down her bosom. So, yeah, that was sort of the idea to sculpt me into my great grandmother.

Q: Is turning clichés about Native Americans on their heads a subject matter particularly important to you?

A: I’ve always felt that I’ve learnt a lot from my great, friend, father, mentor Marlon Brando, that in the history of cinema, the Native American has been portrayed as a savage or something less than that. It was important for me to take at least, take good shot at erasing that. We all approached it that way.

Q: What have you learned after spending so much time with the Native Americans?

A: What I’ve learnt is that they are warriors. Still! They’ve made it this far. They are incredible. Yes, some might have fallen along the way, but the elders, some of the kids, are trying to hold on to their heritage and the language and keep it alive.

Q: What’s your favourite Western movie?

A: Wow, this is a tough one, there are just so many great Westerns. I will admit to not seeing the film, but I feel somehow that Jim Jarmursch somehow made a great epic poem of a Western with Dead Man. I haven’t seen the film! (laughs) I haven’t! But I love Jim and from what I’ve heard … (smiles) and I did read the script and it was wonderful.

Q: If Tonto went head-to-head with Jack Sparrow in a death match, who would win?

A: Oh, it’s all over for Tonto! Captain Jack is far too dark. It wouldn’t take long and it would be unpleasant.

Q: This new generation may not have a clue about The Lone Ranger — or Westerns for that matter. What kind of message do you want to convey with this film?

A: My hope is to try to almost in a weird way embrace the cliche so it’s recognised by people who have been conditioned to … how the Native American has been represented in film. So it was kind of a trick in a weird way to suck them in and then switch them around and take them on a different path.So in way, I can embrace what is deemed as clichéd. I wanted to convey that Native Americans were only deemed savages when Christopher Columbus hit the wrong f**king place and decided that he hit India. That’s our history, he thought he hit India. And called the people Indians. That’s our history and that’s pretty f**king weird. Seriously.

Q: If you could, like Tonto, trade anything in the world, what would it be?

A: Wow, I wouldn’t want to trade anything. Maybe a used bar of soap? I don’t know. Everything is good. I wouldn’t want to trade anything ...

Q: Like maybe trade for your privacy back?

A: (Smiles) That’s something that’s been long dead. I’m used to living like a fugitive now, so it doesn’t really matter. I mean, anonymity? I remember it, but I don’t have it no more. So would I trade it? Hmm, I don’ t know. I like my life. Nah, I don’t want to trade nothin’.