Kirsten Dunst Claims Johnny Depp Wears Earbuds While Acting

At Wednesday night’s opening party for 303 Gallery on 21st Street, Kirsten Dunst was uncharacteristically open — perhaps because she wanted to plug her documentary, but also because we asked her about music, a topic she clearly loves to discuss. She’s into My Morning Jacket and Fleet Foxes and told us she uses music to get into character a lot. In her recently wrapped movie All Good Things, for example, she had a scene where she had to go a little bit crazy, so she listened to music to help her out: Arcade Fire. “And Daniel Johnston can make you feel crazy,� she added, referring to the actually crazy cult singer. “He’s great.� We must have seemed dubious, because Dunst dropped a Hollywood bombshell: “But Johnny Depp has music playing in his ear when he acts,� she said. “He has an earbud. That’s why he’s so great.�

Wait, so Captain Jack Sparrow was listening to the Rolling Stones the whole time? “I don’t know if he does it on every project, but I know he does,� Dunst said. What kind of music does Depp listen to? “I have no idea,� Dunst replied, her story kind of losing steam. We asked her how Depp conceals this supposed earbud from the camera: “Maybe his hair’s covering it? I don’t know, but I know he does it,� Dunst persisted. Finally, we asked Dunst to reveal her source. “I’m in the biz,� she said. “Word gets around.� We checked in with Depp’s representatives on this somewhat sketchy-sounding (but almost plausible!) hearsay — earsay? — but she didn’t respond to our e-mails. —Darrell Hartman