Anytime Johnny Depp and Tim Burton get together for a film, fans know to expect the unexpected, particularly with their retellings of familiar stories like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Alice in Wonderland" and their next highly anticipated project, the big-screen adaptation of '60s vampire soap "Dark Shadows."

The fan fervor surrounding "Shadows" hit a high point recently when photos leaked of a heavily made-up Depp in his full Barnabas Collins costume, followed by the production's first official photo of the entire cast posed family portrait-style and Burton in action on set.

When MTV News caught up with Depp recently as he promoted "The Rum Diary," which hits theaters October 28, we asked what inspired the highly stylized look of the character.

"The memory that I have of watching the show as a kid, Jonathan Frid and what he did with that character was the main inspiration, for sure," he said of the actor who originated the role of Barnabas. "But also the idea of, over the years, these vampire movies have come out and vampire TV shows and stuff like that, and you go, 'Well, nobody looks like a vampire, man. What happened?'

"I adored Dracula, still do. I adored [everyone] from Bela Lugosi to Christopher Lee. I adore Nosferatu, [played by] Max Schrek. I adore all those wonderful sort-of horror films. And it was an opportunity really, an opportunity to sort of go into what really doesn't exist [onscreen] so much anymore, which is classic monster makeup and a classic monster character," Depp explained. "So that was really the inspiration Tim and I talked about."

Depp and Burton's "Dark Shadows," which also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Moretz, Jackie Earle Hayley and Eva Green, will be released May 11, 2012.