Johnny Depp's Hilarious 21 Jump Street Cameo Came With One Stipulation

Before "21 Jump Street" became one of the defining buddy cop comedies of the 21st century, it was a hit crime procedural TV series that premiered on Fox in 1987. However, the 2012 big screen adaptation from directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller delivered something much different in tone than the original series, which took a rather serious approach to following a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers sent undercover to stop crimes in schools, gangs, and other venues frequented by teens.

Despite the much more comedic and even meta approach to the premise of "21 Jump Street," Lord & Miller knew they needed at least one element of the original series in their movie: Johnny Depp, who cut his teeth playing Officer Tom Hanson. But ensuring Depp's involvement required bringing in another piece of "21 Jump Street" history.

The Blu-ray release of "21 Jump Street" has a featurette (which is also available on YouTube) that details how Johnny Depp's cameo came to be. Jonah Hill recalls that fans and press had frequently asked whether Johnny Depp would make some kind of appearance, and Depp was apparently getting the same questions. Thankfully, Depp's interest was there, and the script was in good shape by the time Lord & Miller needed to approach the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star to make an official offer. Depp was happy to join in the fun, but only under one condition.

Back in the early 2010s, the star power of Johnny Depp was much higher than it is now. Depp's fame had yet to veer into controversial territory, and after the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise became one of the biggest in box office history, the actor was one of the most in-demand A-listers in Hollywood. So, at this point, Depp probably could have asked for a lot more, but his only requirement was to have has original "21 Jump Street" co-star Peter DeLuise.

To his credit, it's nice that Depp helped get a fellow actor who rose to fame alongside him in the series land another paycheck while also staying true to the show's roots. But as producer Tania Ladau indicated on the featurette, they were planning on bringing back DeLuise in a cameo already, so it all worked out rather easily.

Funnily enough, Depp was also hoping he and his co-star would both bring back their original characters from the TV series, only for them to be quickly killed off once revealed, and that's exactly how star and co-writer Jonah Hill envisioned their surprise appearances too. In fact, the original idea would have killed them off even sooner. Upon Depp's character reveal, Hill's character Schmidt would have accidentally discharged his pistol, killing Tom Hanson before he could even say anything. Thankfully, Depp and DeLuise get to have a little more fun once their undercover disguises are removed, and the result is one of the funniest and most shocking cameos there have ever been.

The fun didn't stop there either, because Depp's undercover disguise worked so well that he was able to wear it out in public to take a stroll down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, where production of the film took place. Honestly, these days, it's probably best if Depp wears some kind of disguise all the time whenever he's in public.