‘It Made Me Angry’ – Why Edward Scissorhands Left Johnny Depp’s Daughter Deeply Shaken as a Child

For millions of fans, Edward Scissorhands is a haunting fairy tale—a gothic masterpiece that marked Johnny Depp’s breakout role and cemented his creative partnership with Tim Burton. But for Lily-Rose Depp, the actor’s daughter, the 1990 film holds a very different meaning: childhood trauma.

In a candid interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Lily-Rose Depp, now 26, revealed that while she’s admired much of her father’s work, Edward Scissorhands is one film she saw once—and never plans to see again. The reason? Not the character’s eerie appearance or the dark fantasy setting, but something much more emotional: the cruelty shown to him by others.

“It traumatized me,” she admitted. “Not because he [Johnny Depp as Edward] scared me, but because everyone was mean to him, and that made me very angry.” For Lily-Rose, watching her father play such a vulnerable, misunderstood figure was too painful. The scenes of rejection, suspicion, and betrayal deeply unsettled her as a child.

What’s most striking is that the film is widely regarded as family-friendly. Yet Lily-Rose’s reaction speaks to its emotional power—and the complexity of seeing a parent embody such a tragic character. “It’s a difficult memory from my childhood,” she recalled. “And that’s kind of weird, because I don’t have a lot of memories from when I was that young.”

Edward Scissorhands, which tells the story of an artificial man with blades for hands who struggles to find acceptance in a suburban community, became an instant classic. Starring a 27-year-old Johnny Depp alongside Winona Ryder, the film explored themes of isolation, love, and the cruelty of conformity. It resonated with audiences—but for Lily-Rose, it struck far too close to home.

Despite this early trauma, Lily-Rose Depp has stepped confidently into her own acting career. The daughter of Johnny Depp and French singer-actress Vanessa Paradis, she has balanced roles in art-house films and fashion campaigns with growing confidence. Her latest project, Robert Eggers’ 2024 horror film Nosferatu, highlights her affinity for the genre—ironically, the very genre that once left her emotionally scarred.

“I’ve always been attracted to horror on the big screen,” she told the magazine, signaling a comfort with cinematic darkness on her own terms. But Edward Scissorhands remains the exception—a bittersweet relic of childhood innocence and the emotional complexities of growing up in the shadow of an iconic performance.