At a recent “Fan Event” for Walt Disney movie “The Lone Ranger” director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Johnny Depp (“Tonto”) and Armie Hammer (“The Lone Ranger”) answered fans questions about the making of the film which opens July 3, 2013. It was quite the opposite of a glamorous film!

When asked about his memories of the original television series, “The Lone Ranger”, Gore stated, “I always responded to that relationship with Tonto and Lone Ranger and thought it would be good to try something different with Johnny Depp and Armie.”

Pictured (l-r): Johnny Depp (Tonto), Armie Hammer (Lone Ranger)

“He is somebody that was there, but you don’t entirely trust.” – Gore Verbinski (director)
“We are doing something different. We are telling it from Tonto’s perspective. You’ve all heard the story but never heard it from the guy that was there. He is just somebody that was there but you don’t entirely trust,” explained Gore.

“I didn’t understand why Tonto was the sidekick” – Johnny Depp (actor, “Tonto”)
Depp said while preparing for the role of Tonto was really just finding the way into the character that was different. “When I watched the show, I just didn’t understand why Tonto was the sidekick. I always felt a little nu-nerved about it.”

Depp also stated, “As far as research…the goal was to try to right the many wrongs that was done to those people and to show Tonto as a proud warrior, but also as a man outside…just a bit outside.”

Pictured: Armie Hammer (Lone Ranger) rides a horse on top of a train.

When asked about riding “Silver” the horse, Armie reacted, “I was familiar with horseback riding but had never ridden a horse through a moving train or on top of a bank before. He got sent to a “cowboy boot camp” which all of the actors in the movie had to go. He said they “stuck us on a working horse ranch out in New Mexico and said ‘we’re going to beat the city out of you,’ and they did. They tired anyway.”

“It was the hardest film I’ve ever been on.” – Gore (director)
Gore said that it was a challenging movie to make. They shot in five states. It rained and snowed and was 125 degrees. “It was the hardest film that I’ve ever been on. It was absolutely nuts. The train never worked…it was insane.”

Pictured: Johnny Depp (Tonto)

Jerry added, “It’s an enormous movie. We built trains and trekked those trains over five states. It was one of the fun adventures that took from February to October to finish.”

“It never really felt surreal putting the mask on for the first time.” – Armie Hammer (actor, “Lone Ranger”)
When asked about putting the iconic Lone Ranger mask on for the first time, Armie said, “We did a lot of mask fittings. It never really felt surreal putting the mask on for the first time. It was just a bunch of us standing in a room with a hundred different kinds of masks. There was that one that fit perfectly.”

Depp stated on working with director Gore whom he’s worked with on the Pirates film franchise that “It’s an adventure into the character”.

“There’s a wonderful kind of respect for absurdity and irrelevance which is the only way to go through life I believe” – Jonny Depp (actor, “Tonto”)
Depp stated that the biggest challenge about working on “The Lone Ranger” was “staying alive when you’re on a horse that’s moving at high speeds.” He joked that he’d like to play Carol Channing. But, would also love to do the life of comedian Don Rickles.

“It’s not just the movie, it’s the process of making it which is insane…it’s madness.” – Gore (director)
Gore said there’s not one day that stands out on the movie. In the editing, every image that shows up is a sense memory of absolute pain and torture and nothing was going right. Every shot comes up has a little bit of history. It’s not just the movie, it’s the process of making it which is insane…it’s madness.”