Alex Dinelaris, screenwriter of the Oscar nominated film Birdman, revealed that the original ending included a cameo appearance by Johnny Depp. Warning: his comments below contain potential spoilers for the film.
In a Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith, Dinelaris described what the original idea was for the conclusion of the film:
“The other ending was that [Michael Keaton’s character] shoots himself on the stage. The camera comes around to the audience and their standing ovation … and the segue was back on to the stage with James Lipton or Charlie Rose and Michael [Keaton] was sitting across from him, and he’s sort of reading the review. He’s saying, ‘Oh my God, you got this tremendous review,’ and Michael is like, ‘Yeah.’
… then the camera prowled like it did the whole film, went back stage through the halls we’ve seen the whole time, and we’d get to the dressing room where literally Johnny Depp would be sitting looking in the mirror and putting on his Riggan Thomson wig and then the poster of Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 would be in the back. In Jack Sparrow’s voice [it would say], ‘What the f— are we doing here, mate?’ It was going to be the satire of the endless loop of that.”
Dinelaris added that they did not go with that ending since they “couldn’t get Johnny Depp or even the poster.” He also stated that director Alejandro González Iñárritu was “very passionate” about changing the ending so it was not end so neatly for viewers.
Birdman is currently nominated nine Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards, which is set to air February 22.
