Project honoring late Rexburg father and daughter moves forward as family hopes Johnny Depp will join film
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REXBURG — Eight months after 41-year-old Eddie Grampp died of an aggressive brain tumor, his wife says their family is healing day by day and pushing forward with a project he hoped would preserve their deceased daughter’s memory forever.
Eddie passed away in March after a 13-year battle with glioblastoma. His final wish was to see progress on “Golden: A Rumpelstiltskin Tale,” an animated film he created to honor his 3-year-old daughter, McKaylee, who died in a tragic accident ten years ago.
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Since his passing, the project has continued to gain momentum — and the Grampp family, along with producer and close friend Jackie Nico, are hoping that actor Johnny Depp may ultimately become part of it.
Learning to grieve again
Mary Grampp says the months since Eddie’s death have been filled with both heartbreak and unexpected tender moments.
“We are doing OK. We’re moving forward and taking things day by day,” she tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Something I’ve noticed with my kids is that losing McKaylee prepared us, in a way, for losing their dad. The grief feels familiar.”
McKaylee died in August 2015. Eddie returned home from work and pulled into the underground parking garage of their townhouse complex. He didn’t see his McKaylee, who had run out to greet him, and hit his three-year-old daughter. She was rushed to the hospital, where she passed away.
Having learned to grieve with her death, Mary and her children have utilized similar skills since Eddie’s passing. Mary’s kids often tell her they feel their father close.
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“They’ll say, ‘I felt Dad next to me at school today,'” Mary says. “I’m grateful they aren’t pushing those tender moments away.”
Mary is navigating life as a single mother now, but she says she feels Eddie helping from the other side.
“I feel Eddie is still a part of this journey and is working his magic on his end,” she explains. “I’ve held onto that — seeing him in so many little details…If I’m having a small breakdown, I have to let it happen. As I trust those moments, they come, they go, and I can keep moving with my day.”
“Golden” moves forward
Before his death, Eddie poured more than a decade into developing “Golden,” a reimagined Rumpelstiltskin story created as a tribute to McKaylee. He storyboarded scenes, built characters, wrote music, met with studios, hired collaborators and nearly landed production deals, Mary says.
One of the people walking beside him from the early days of the project is Jackie Nico, a voice actor and producer who first met the Grampps in Los Angeles in 2011.
“I felt such a strong connection to McKaylee,” Jackie tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Golden became so dear to me, and because Eddie was in the industry, he was able to pitch it to a lot of studios. He almost had it picked up two or three times.”
When Eddie’s health began to decline sharply last fall, Jackie says she felt prompted to reach back out.
“I am forever grateful I was able to speak with Eddie and Mary in his final days. I wanted Eddie to feel secure knowing Mary would be supported in continuing this film. I won’t leave her side,” says Jackie, who is a producer on the project.
The early stages of work on “Golden” are done or near completion, including a pitch deck, music, script and other parts. Jackie and the Grampps are just waiting on the right production company to make the dream become a reality.
The Johnny Depp connection
One piece has become especially meaningful as the film moves closer to reality: the hope that Johnny Depp might voice Rumpelstiltskin.
It’s a connection rooted in a tender memory.
In 2012, while Eddie was undergoing treatment at UCLA, Mary stepped into the hallway with infant McKaylee. Depp happened to walk by and stopped, looked at the baby, and told Mary, “She is the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen.”
Mary went into Eddie’s room and told him about the encounter, something the young father never forgot.
“He felt Johnny would do an amazing job voicing Rumpelstiltskin, especially because he actually met McKaylee,” Mary says. “That makes it so tender. He knew our sweet girl — the little girl this project is for.”
Jackie agrees.
“We feel very strongly that we want to reach out to Johnny Depp before making other decisions about the project,” she says. “We want him to know the whole family and to understand why ‘Golden’ matters. Once we know he’s heard it — truly heard it — that will dictate how we move forward.”
Mary has continued contributing creatively. She recently recorded a song titled “I Can Do This,” the main theme for “Golden” that she compares to Frozen’s “Let It Go.” She is also preparing to record another song, “It Was Always You,” which Eddie wrote with their own love story in mind.
“I promised him I would record it,” Mary says.
While life for the Grampps is busy and sometimes emotional, it is full of small reminders of Eddie’s presence. And they hope that progress on “Golden” will soon be another way to honor Eddie.
“He just wanted to create something beautiful for McKaylee. He wanted her story told,” Mary says.
If you have connections to Johnny Depp or would like to help with the “Golden” project, email goldenmovieme@gmail.com.