Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis Split: 'Lone Ranger' Star Finally Opens Up About Ex-Girlfriend, Break Up's Effect on Their Kids

In the forthcoming July 4, 2013, issue of Rolling Stone magazine, the normally tight-lipped Johnny Depp opened up about his split from the mother of his children, model and singer Vanessa Paradis. This is the first time the movie star has talked at all about the June 2012 break up after a 14-year relationship, but Depp has broken his silence in this new interview. He compared his most recent break up with previous ones that involved Kate Moss and Winona Ryder. Did he also open up about his current girlfriend, Amber Heard?

"The last couple years have been a bit bumpy," Depp told the magazine. "At times, certainly unpleasant, but that's the nature of breakups, I guess, especially when there are kiddies involved."

Depp and Paradis have a daughter, Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 1999), and a son, John Christopher "Jack" Depp III (born in 2002). Rumors of the two splitting starting surfacing in early 2012 and Depps rep announced the official split in June of that year.

"Relationships are very difficult. Especially in the racket that I'm in because you're constantly away or they're away and so it's hard. It wasn't easy on her. It wasn't easy on me. It wasn't easy on the kids. So, yeah. The trajectory of that relationship -- you play it out until it goes, one thing leads to another. So for whatever reason that ­ceases, it doesn't stop the fact that you care for that person, and they're the mother of your kids, and you'll always know each other, and you're always gonna be in each other's lives because of those kids. You might as well make the best of it."

"In terms of the breakup, I definitely wasn't going to rely on the drink to ease things or cushion the blow or cushion the situation, 'cause that could have been fatal. I felt it was my duty to be real clear throughout that. I had something pretty serious to focus on, really, which was making sure that my kids were gonna be cool."

So are the kids "cool?"

"They've been incredibly understanding, incredibly strong throughout the whole ordeal. And it's hard on every side. You know, Vanessa's side, certainly not easy. My side, not easy. The kids are the most complicated," he explained. "The thing is, kiddies come first. You can't shield them, because then you'd be lying. So you can at least be honest with your kids, and you say the absolute truth to your child -- that was very important to not pussyfoot around."

So what about is current girlfriend, 27-year-old Amber Heard? Unfortunately he is staying tight-lipped about that subject. Depp met Heard on the set of their 2011 movie The Rum Diaries.