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Depp loved 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' -

As a teenager, Depp loved Thompson's mind-bending novel. He was invited to meet the famed author in December 1994, and made his way to Thompson's favorite bar, the Woody Creek Tavern near Aspen, Colorado, where it all began.

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A cattle prod and a taser - Thompson entered the bar shouting, "Out of my way, you b*stards!" while wielding a cattle prod and taser, parting the crowd, Depp told Newsweek. The Kentucky natives bonded quickly.

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That wasn't the weirdest part of the night -

Around 2 am, Depp was at the author's Owl Farm home (a property in Woody Creek, Colorado) complimenting a 12-gauge shotgun hanging on the wall. Thompson asked if Depp wanted to shoot it, and when he said yes, Thompson decided that they must make a bomb.

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So they indeed built a bomb -

They made it from propane tanks and nitroglycerin, took it out in the backyard, and Depp fired at it, making it explode about 80 feet in the air. Depp said this "rite of passage" cemented their friendship.

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From then on, they became inseparable -

Thompson would reportedly call Depp in the wee hours of the morning, asking things like, "Colonel, what do you know of black-hairy-tongue disease?"

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Thompson made all sorts of requests -

In the middle of the night, he'd call Depp and ask him to meet him in Cuba to do a piece on Fidel Castro. "When Hunter made a request like that, you made it happen," Depp said. So he went to Cuba.

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The piece became about their own Havana adventures -

Thompson would call Depp "Ray, my bodyguard," and they had strange adventures with various people, which Depp described as "totally ludicrous and surreal."

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They were roommates -

In the spring of 1997, Depp lived in Thompson's basement, in a room across from the "War Room," which happened to also contain a barrel of gunpowder.

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Depp lived like Thompson -

They would go to sleep around 9 or 10 in the morning, and have breakfast at around 7 pm. Despite how ludicrous it sounds, Depp insisted, "He took care of me."

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The legends about Thompson were both true and false -

Depp confirmed Thompson's irreverent and outrageous yet poetic nature, but  added that when he was sitting in Thompson's kitchen watching sports, he was a "very gentle guy. Hyper, hypersensitive, hence the self-medication."

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Depp admired him, but Thompson set limits -

Depp soon realized he shouldn't try to keep up with Thompson, and described a time when he wanted to take acid with the writer, but the seasoned hallucinogenic explorer stopped him.

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Thompson was protective -

He explained to the young star that this particular hallucinogen was a two-day commitment, and asked him if he was ready for that. Depp said he wasn't sure, and Thompson suggested he wait.

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Part idol, part father, part brother -

Depp said, "He knew I worshiped him, and I know that he loved me," which made Thompson partly a father figure, along with being a mentor. Mostly, however, Depp said they were like brothers.

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Depp encouraged Thompson to publish 'The Rum Diary' - Thompson had started it in the '60s and Depp read it in the '90s. Thompson reportedly wanted to immediately turn it into a movie, but with Depp's urging he published it in 1998.

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Depp understood Thompson better than most -

Depp came to learn that the 1959-60 Thompson was an athletic and handsome man who would type 'The Great Gatsby' to see how it felt to write a masterpiece, and that he hadn't yet found his voice to express all his anger and passion.

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Depp understood Thompson better than most -

He also learned that the 1971-72 Thompson, of the 'Fear and Loathing' era, was the version of the writer with less hair but a fully established voice.

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Which is perhaps why Depp was best to play him -

Depp saw Raoul Duke from 'Fear and Loathing' as the fully realized Hunter Thompson, whereas Paul Kemp from 'The Rum Diary' was Thompson on the precipice of finding his voice.

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Apparently 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' was toned down - Depp reportedly gained access to Thompson's "Vegas" notebooks, which had tales even wilder than what appeared in the novel.

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Thompson ousted John Cusack in favor of Depp -

A film version of 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' was already in development with John Cusack, but after meeting Depp, Thompson insisted no one else could play him.

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Depp played Thompson again 13 years later -

'The Rum Diary' was produced in 2011, after Thompson's death. Depp became one of few actors to play the same real-life figure in multiple movies.

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Thompson's death -

On February 20, 2005, tired of his medical ailments and old age, Thompson took his own life with a gunshot to the head. He was 67, which he said in a note was 17 more years than he needed or wanted.

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Depp was not surprised -

He was angry that he never got a chance to say goodbye, but said of Thompson, "He was not going to be the guy to melt into a bowl of clam chowder. He was going to dictate the way he lived, the way he died."

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Depp was, however, devastated -

He was deeply saddened that he would never get late-night calls anymore, and that the "Too-Much-Fun Club," which Thompson called the pair, was over.

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Thompson had a detailed plan laid out for his funeral -

It included a 150-foot (46-m) cannon out of which he wanted his ashes to explode into fireworks. Depp thought the audacity of the plan was Thompson's way of distracting people from mourning.

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Depp completely funded it - "I think Hunter knew that I was the only one dumb enough to take it on," Depp said, who actually decided it had to be taller than the 151-foot Statue of Liberty, as a tribute to Thompson's excess.

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Canonical in death -

The final 153-foot tall structure, set up at Thompson's home in Woody Creek, was shaped like the writer's famous "Freak Power" logo and blasted off on August 20, 2005. Thompson's cremated ashes went up in "a beautiful and surreal ballet of lights and explosions," and Depp added that it was only fitting the writer would end his life as "a combination of ashes and gunpowder in a giant bullet."

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The whole event cost Depp US$3 million -

But the money was paltry in contrast to how much Thompson had influenced Depp. The actor told Newsweek he feels the writer from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep.

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Their relationship persists in Depp -

Depp said he feels fortunate he knew just how special his time was with Thompson as it was happening, "and I knew that was never going to happen again."

Sources: (Newsweek) (Rolling Stone) (HuffPost) (Daily Record)

See also: The craziest alternative burial methods

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