Johnny Depp has revealed he had "no fear" after falling off his horse in The Lone Ranger.

The Hollywood star played down the incident, calling it "user error", when he was left hanging onto the animal, named Scout, for 25 yards after suffering a saddle slip during a jump on set.

"The horse was magnificent. I would probably say, (it was) user error," admitted the 50-year-old.

"The horse decided to jump a mound... and when we hit the ground, the thing that bolted the saddle tilted to the left with me. The strange thing about it was that there was no kind of fear involved, there was no adrenaline.

"It was just like, this is a weird predicament, how do I get out of it? How do I escape this thing? And after far too long hanging onto the horse, I finally just let go," he recalled.

Johnny revealed it was a childhood dream come true to play Tonto, the Native American companion to Armie Hammer's Lone Ranger in Gore Verbinski's big-screen adaptation of the 50s TV show.

"I was always sort of flummoxed, even as a child, at the idea of Tonto being a sidekick to the Lone Ranger. I found it not very appealing, you know, because these people are warriors. So even then, as a kid, I wanted to be Tonto," he said.

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star was inspired by silent film stars for his portrayal.

"Tonto to me was predominantly a silent film character. His navigation of the language wouldn't be as the Lone Ranger's, so he'll speak more with his eyes and expression. I've always been a big admirer and I studied Buster Keaton and Lon Chaney," he explained.

The Lone Ranger is released in cinemas on August 9.