Bang Showbiz

Johnny Depp was a terrible telemarketer.

The 'Transcendence' star tried out a multitude of jobs before finding fame as an actor, but none was less suited to him than selling pens to strangers over the phone because he felt ashamed of forcing people into a ''scam''.

He recalled: ''I marketed pens - on the phone. But the beauty of the gig was that you had to call these strangers and say, 'Hi, how ya doing?' You made up a name, like, 'Hey, it's Edward Quartermaine from California. You're eligible to receive this grand-father clock or a trip to Tahiti.'

''You promise them all these things if they buy a gross of pens. It was just awful. But I actually think that was the first experience I had with acting.''

Kind-hearted Johnny felt so morally compromised by his short-lived role that after the only sale he managed to make, he pleaded with the customer to back out.

He said: ''I sold one thing, one gross of pens to one guy. And then he was asking me about the trip to Tahiti and I was riddled with guilt, so I told him, 'Hey, man, you don't want these (expletive) pens. This is a scam. The grandfather clock is made of pressboard. You're not going to Tahiti. I'm sorry.' So I talked him out of it.''

And the 50-year-old actor - who has just confirmed his engagement to his 'Rum Diary' co-star Amber Heard - wasn't much good at being a mechanic either.

Johnny recalled to Iggy Pop for Interview magazine: ''I was working at a gas station, pumping gas, and they put me in the garage and made me a mechanic. I told the dude, 'Hey, I know very little about this.' And he said, 'Oh, you'll just do what I tell you to do and it will work out fine.' Well, it didn't.

''I changed all the tires on this guy's car, did the alignment, put the (expletive) wheels back on, pulled it down, guy got in, and his left rear wheel shot off the (expletive) vehicle. I was asked to leave, needless to say.''