He was beaten with a stick, a shoe, an ashtray, a phone—anything his mother could give him. By age 11, he was already taking his mother’s “nerve pills,” and by 14, he’d tried every drug imaginable. Despite this, he’s still one of Hollywood’s most prominent actors, with films that have grossed over $10.8 billion worldwide

While Depp was filming the film in Hollywood, his first marriage to makeup artist Lori Anne Depp ended. The couple, who married in Florida, were together from 1983 to 1985.

After several subsequent relationships—most notably with Winona Ryder and Jennifer Grey—he met Vanessa Paradis, the mother of his two children. Their relationship lasted 14 years, and together they raised 22-year-old Lily-Rose and 20-year-old Jack.Speaking about his parenting style, he explained that his approach was shaped by the abuse he experienced as a child.

“When my daughter, Vanessa, got pregnant, I knew exactly how to raise children, which was to do the opposite of what they did—like Betty Sue,” he said. “Never raise your voice in front of your children—ever. When I yelled ‘no’ at them, I never meant to say ‘no’ to them. I wanted to show them that there are options. You don’t have to stick a coat hanger in an electrical outlet.”

He described how he used the conversation method in his contacts with children:

“Saying ‘no’ is something sudden, but talking to them and saying, ‘If you understand the consequences of something, you won’t do it. So maybe think about this instead. Think about it, you know, but it could kill you.’ So I would try to dissuade them from that type of situation by having a conversation instead of a direct, ‘Don’t ever do that again,’ threats, and so on,” he testified. “I didn’t raise my children that way. Vanessa didn’t either. And we never raised our voices in front of our children, ever.”