New poll confirms actor is still no. 1 for a second consecutive year

Jan 20, 2012 13:45 GMT  ·  By

He might have caused some controversy with some of his comments last year, but Johnny Depp is still the most popular actor in America. A new poll confirms has confirmed this, if confirmation was still needed.

Recent months have seen Depp come under fire for a series of comments in made in interviews promoting “The Rum Diary,” a film labeled a flop by critics and audiences alike.

Even so, he's still the man, Hollywood News informs.

Not that his fans needed any more confirmation that he was number 1.

“The Harris Poll, which surveyed 2,237 adults in the U.S. between Dec. 5 and 12, confirmed that Depp’s turns in 'Rango' and the fourth 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movie helped propel him to the top of the popularity charts,” HN says.

This is the second time Depp earns the distinction, for the second consecutive year.

“Denzel Washington, who was in the second spot last year, and Clint Eastwood who was number 9 on the list last year, according to results,” HN reports.

The same media outlet notes that Sandra Bullock is the only woman to break into the top 10.

As noted above, Depp found himself under fire in 2011 for a series of comments. The one that outraged his US fans the most was that American audiences were “too dumb” to appreciate his movies, which is the only explanation the actor came across when thinking about why some of his films fail to sell here.

“Most definitely,” he said, when asked if he thought audiences – and not his films – were to blame for the poor reception.

“It’s something that will be more appreciated over here, I think. Cos it’s – well, I think it’s an intelligent film. [He leaves a meaningful pause.] And a lot of times, outside the big cities in the States, they don’t want that,” he said, as we also reported at the time.