Honestly, if you go back and watch Tusk today, you might blink and miss her. It’s wild. Before the Chanel campaigns and long before the polarizing chaos of The Idol, Lily-Rose Depp made her screen debut as a bored teenager behind a convenience store counter.
She was fifteen.
She didn't have a grand monologue. There were no sweeping orchestral swells. She was just "Girl Clerk #2," standing next to her real-life best friend, Harley Quinn Smith. It was a tiny role in a movie about a man being surgically turned into a walrus. Yeah, Kevin Smith movies are a lot.
But that small moment changed everything.
The Accident That Started a Career
Lily-Rose wasn't even supposed to be in the movie. Not really. Most people assume there was this massive master plan to launch her career, but the reality is much more "indie film" than that. She was basically just hanging out on set. Her dad, Johnny Depp, was already there playing the eccentric, beret-wearing investigator Guy LaPointe.
👉 See also: Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan: What Really Happened Behind the Scenes
Kevin Smith had originally written the convenience store part for a man.
Then he looked at his daughter, Harley, and her friend Lily-Rose, and he had a thought. He realized his kid would probably never have to work a "real" job in a convenience store, so he figured he’d give her the experience on film. Lily-Rose was "itching to watch" her dad work anyway, so Smith just threw her in.
It was a whim.
"I can make a whole other movie just on their level of performance," Smith said later. He wasn't kidding. That one scene at the "Eh-2-Zed" store was so much fun for them that it birthed an entire spin-off movie, Yoga Hosers.
Why the Tusk Cameo Still Matters
For Lily-Rose, this wasn't just a fun afternoon with her dad. It was a literal career pivot. Before Tusk, she actually wanted to be a singer like her mother, Vanessa Paradis. She’d even co-written a song on her mom’s album Love Songs.
But something clicked in front of the camera.
She realized acting felt natural. Easy. She liked the discipline of it. While the internet loves to throw the "nepo baby" label around—and let's be real, having Johnny Depp as your dad is the ultimate "in"—Lily-Rose has been pretty vocal about the pressure that comes with it. She’s mentioned feeling like people have been "ready to see her fail" since she was a kid.
The Guy LaPointe Connection
The most surreal part of Lily Rose Depp Tusk appearance is the family dynamic on screen. If you haven't seen the movie, Johnny Depp is unrecognizable. He’s got this weird prosthetic nose, a thick French-Canadian accent, and he’s playing a character that is deeply, deeply strange.
Lily-Rose is just... a teen.
She’s playing Colleen Collette, wearing a uniform, looking completely unimpressed by the world. The contrast is hilarious. You have one of the biggest movie stars on the planet doing high-concept character work, and his daughter is just being a "regular" person.
Interestingly, Johnny Depp wasn't even credited under his own name in the film. He used the name of his character, Guy LaPointe. It was a way to blend into the bizarre narrative without the "Johnny Depp" brand taking over the whole indie vibe.
A Quick Reality Check on the "True North" Trilogy
Kevin Smith planned Tusk as the start of a trilogy.
- Tusk (The Walrus one).
- Yoga Hosers (The one where Lily-Rose is the lead).
- Moose Jaws (Basically Jaws, but with a moose).
While the third movie has been stuck in development hell for years, the first two cemented Lily-Rose as a legitimate presence in the "weird" side of Hollywood. She didn't start with a Disney show or a YA blockbuster. She started with a cult horror-comedy about human taxidermy.
That says a lot about her trajectory.
Dealing With the "Nepo" Noise
It’s impossible to talk about her start in Tusk without addressing the elephant in the room. Or the walrus. People love to hate on the leg-up she had. And yeah, she’s admitted that the "imposter syndrome" is real.
She told Vanity Fair that every new role feels like a "reset."
But there’s a difference between getting in the door and staying in the room. Since 2014, she’s done French-language films like A Faithful Man and massive productions like The King. She even dropped out of high school at seventeen to do this full-time.
Her parents both left school at fifteen, so they weren't exactly in a position to tell her to stay in class.
What You Should Do Next
If you're actually interested in her acting and not just the headlines, skip the tabloids. Go back and watch the convenience store scene in Tusk. It’s a time capsule.
Watch for these specific things:
- The chemistry between her and Harley Quinn Smith (it’s genuine because they’ve been friends since they were six).
- The "Eh-2-Zed" backdrop—it’s full of Kevin Smith Easter eggs.
- Her deadpan delivery. Even at 15, she had that "bored clerk" vibe down perfectly.
After that, check out Yoga Hosers. It’s not a "masterpiece" by traditional standards, but it’s the only movie where she and her dad really get to play off each other as leads. It’s campy, it’s Canadian, and it’s the bridge between her being "Johnny’s daughter" and becoming her own person in the industry.
The transition from a two-minute cameo to a career-defining role in the upcoming Nosferatu started right there, behind a cash register in North Carolina (which was pretending to be Manitoba).
Basically, Tusk wasn't just a movie for her. It was the moment she decided what she wanted to do with her life. Not a bad result for a day of "hanging out" on her dad's set.
Next Step: Rent or stream Tusk and fast-forward to the 40-minute mark to see the scene that started it all. If you want to see her actually carry a movie, Yoga Hosers is the logical follow-up, though be warned: it is significantly weirder than you think it is.