[H]ow many chances does a non-singer get at tackling such an insanely difficult score? Did Depp realize what he was getting into? [Composer Stephen] Sondheim, who had casting approval, okayed the actor without hearing him perform any material. "I figured he'd have a light baritone," says the composer. "You can hear it in his speaking voice. I love him as an actor, and always have. Put those things together, I didn't hesitate for one second." Depp was floored at passing muster so easily. "It was a real shock," he says. "He said to me early on that the singing was secondary to hitting the notes emotionally." Depp takes a beat. "I didn't believe him." He laughs. "I think he was probably just saying that to make me feel better about what I was about to attempt. (Daly).
Depp, however, is not the only actor who helped to make the film a success. Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett is inspired. She had to overcome the stigma of being the girlfriend of the director, and she felt extra pressure to be as perfect as possible: "I think I had to be righter than right to prove I was right to play Mrs. Lovett. But it had been in my blood. I wanted to be her when I was 13, when the show came out. I went around with a Mrs. Lovett hairdo" (Daly). Bonham Carter did not take any chances. She "studied for months with a renowned vocal coach, Ian Adam.'He was famous for making actors sing who couldn't previously,' she says. Sadly, he died the week filming wrapped" (Daly). Sondheim, who had final casting approval, had no reservations about the film's two leading actors: .
The composer says he watched a dozen or so audition tapes and insists that Bonham Carter's performance was the best. "Even in a recording studio, wearing a schmatte, she is as beautiful and sexy as they come," he says. "She knew what she was doing, more than the others." Sondheim is equally pleased with Depp. "There are very few people who can act and sing at the same time.
