At the Dark Shadows Premiere, Johnny Depp's Dream Came True

"I've wanted to play this role ever since I was a wee tyke," admitted Depp, who also produced the film, talking to reporters earlier at a press conference. "As a child, I certainly had a fascination with monsters and vampires. And I was a real fan of the show."

As was Pfeiffer, who made an out-of-character move in order to be a part of the project and called director Tim Burton to ask for the chance. After all, they had worked together 20 years before on "Batman Returns."

"I shamelessly called him!" Pfeiffer recalled during the press conference with a laugh. "It's just not done, and I didn't even know if there was a part for me. I just said, 'If there's anything I want to throw my hat in the ring.' Give me a job after 20 years!"

Burton did just that, casting Pfeiffer as the loopy matriarch of the Collins clan of vampires, and is thrilled with the result.

"It was weird, because it reminded me how much I love working with Michelle. It was like a long time ago but it just flooded back, because I never really watch my movies again. But it sort of flooded back, how impressed I remember being with Michelle. So, it was a real joy to get a call from Michelle and find out she was a closet 'Dark Shadows' fan."

Burton rounded out the cast with a bevy of gorgeous ladies who joined him at the premiere, including Eva Green, Chloe Grace Moretz and Bella Heathcote, a newcomer to the Hollywood scene. He added a few men, too, who also walked the red carpet, including Jonny Lee Miller, Jackie Earle Haley and rock star Alice Cooper.
Also on hand for the night's celebration was the film's composer Danny Elfman, as well as Cloris Leachman, Alexa Vega, Peter Fonda and Alison Lohman.

The star wattage burned bright in Hollywood on Monday night, May 7, as Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tim Burton rolled into town to premiere "Dark Shadows," their film homage to the 1970's vampire-infested television soap opera of the same name. As the three cinematic superstars gathered in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre for their red-carpet photo ops, fans screamed from across the barricades in delight.

The movie fulfills one of Depp's lifelong dreams, a desire the 48-year-old actor has had since he rushed home to watch the afternoon show as a child.