Johnny Depp ''desperately'' wanted to be a movie star.

'The Lone Ranger' actor was determined to break into leading man roles in Hollywood films after playing a supporting character on 1980s TV show '21 Jump Street', according to porn star-turned-actress Traci Lords, who starred alongside him in his first movie - 1990's 'Cry-Baby'.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: ''Every single member of that cast had so much to prove. I mean, Johnny Depp desperately wanted to be a movie star, and everybody said he couldn't, because he was only a supporting actor on '21 Jump Street'. This was his first lead in a movie, a big deal for him.

''[Co-star] Iggy Pop was sober and wanted to prove he could be more than a rock star. Ricki Lake wanted desperately to be a talk show hostess. I wanted to leave my teenage porn years behind.''

The musical film is set in the 1950s and is a parody of earlier teen musicals, such as 'Grease'.

Depp recently indicated he was ''not too far'' away from quitting acting.

He said: ''When you add up the amount of dialogue that you say per year and you realise that you've said written words more than you've had a chance to say your own words, you start thinking about that as an insane option for a human being.''