Mortdecai type Movie

It’s been a rough few weeks for Johnny Depp, but the actor of a dozen wigs has taken it all in stride.

In the wake of Mortdecai‘s middling release, Johnny Depp has not only contended with a tough critical reception to the film but has also apparently done battle with a mythical creature in order to speak to journalists about the film.

AP reports that Johnny Depp appeared before journalists in Tokyo on Wednesday, Jan. 28, and apologized for missing a press conference on Jan. 27. Depp explained that he had been ill the day before, but he joked with reporters that the real reason he’d missed the scheduled date was far more sinister.

“I was attacked yesterday morning by a very rarely seen or experienced animal called ‘chupacabra,'” Depp explained. “I fought with it for hours. They’re very persistent, very mean. And I’m pretty sure it came into my suitcase. I threw him off the 23rd floor. So we’ll never see him again. Thank you for understanding.”

Of course, when asked to explain the chupacabra incident in the style of his newest, mustachioed character, the result was, sadly, not nearly as funny as his actual answer.

“He would probably say something like ‘How do you do?’ My name is Charlie Mortdecai and I’ve come here to take as much money from you as I possibly can, and jewelry, and art, and stuff,'” he said.

Depp’s tongue-in-cheek explanation for his absence is at least one sign that the actor can remain lighthearted and in good spirits despite a string of notable box office bombs. Hopefully no one, however, plans to option a Mortdecai and the Great Chupacabra Caper script based on his offhand joke.