Johnny Depp as Tonto with Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger

Johnny Depp as Tonto with Armie Hammer as The Lone Ranger

Johnny Depp wanted his 'The Lone Ranger' character to be a "warrior"

The 49-year-old actor plays Native American Tonto alongside Armie Hammer in Gore Verbinski's upcoming Disney film, and he ensured he put his own twist on the relationship between the pair by steering clear of the sidekick relationship established in the original 1950s TV series.

Speaking in the new issue of Total Film magazine, Johnny said: "Since cinema has been around, Native Americans have been treated very poorly by Hollywood. What I wanted to do was play Tonto not as a sidekick - like 'go fetch a soda for me, boy!' - but as a warrior with integrity and dignity. It's my small sliver of a contribution to try to right the wrongs of the past."

Johnny has put a lot of effort into getting his portrayal of Tonto accurate and studied Native American culture.

The Hollywood hunk previously revealed his character's distinctive white and black make-up was inspired by a painting by artist Kirby Sattler.

He explained: "I'd actually seen a painting by an artist named Kirby Sattler, and looked at the face of this warrior and thought, That's it ... The stripes down the face and across the eyes... it seemed to me like you could almost see the separate sections of the individual, if you know what I mean."

'The Lone Ranger' - which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and also stars Helena Bonham Carter as Red - is out in cinemas later this year.

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