Johnny Depp: U.S. 'Dumb Puppy'

American actor Johnny Depp likened his native country to a "dumb puppy that has big teeth" in an interview published Wednesday, ridiculing Washington's confrontation with France, where he lives, over the war in Iraq.

The "Edward Scissorhands" and "Sleepy Hollow" star, who spends much of his time in the south of France with his companion, Vanessa Paradis, and their two small children, told the German magazine he couldn't see himself paying more than short visits to his Los Angeles residence in the present political climate.

"America is dumb, is something like a dumb puppy that has big teeth — that can bite and hurt you, aggressive," Depp was quoted as saying.

Depp recalled that French fries were renamed "Freedom" fries in the House cafeteria on Capitol Hill at the height of U.S. anger over France's refusal to back the administration of President George W. Bush over the war in Iraq.

"Nothing made me happier than when I read that — grown men and grown women in positions of power in the United States government," Depp said. "I was ecstatic because they revealed themselves as idiots."

Depp said he wanted his two children, ages 1 and 4, to experience the United States "like it's a kind a toy — a broken toy maybe. Investigate a little bit, check it out, get this feeling and then get out."