Johnny Depp Close Call, "Lone Ranger" [VIDEO]: Actor Tells David Letterman His Near-Death Tale of Falling Off Horse on Set

Johnny Depp went on "The Late Show" earlier this week and told David Letterman how he basically could have died while filming a scene on horseback for the upcoming film The Lone Ranger. Decked out in scarves, bracelets, and a huge hat among many other accessories, the 49-year-old actor informed Letterman that while portraying the character Tonto in a horse-riding scene, things got a little out of hand.

 "There was one moment in particular where it got unpleasant," the actor said of his fall that could have turned the sex symbol into a "horribly mangled" mess. "We'd been running them all day and they weren't really interested in slowing down, at all [...] My horse that I was on decided to jump a couple of these little obstacles. The horse was unaware that the saddle I was wearing to sit on top of it was sort of jerry-rigged, kind of faked."

Letterman interjects to explain that the saddles used on set were there to make it look like Depp was riding bareback. Johnny continues:

"When we came down, the saddle slipped and I went to the left and had the reins here, and somehow had the wherewithal to grab his mane-all very calm for some reason, I figured fear would kick in, but it didn't [...] I saw in front of my eyes these very muscular horse legs and the striations of muscles moving, this kind of death machine. One word popped into my head: hooves. You know? Hooves. In any case, mind the hooves [...] Well, you make a decision: Will I go with the beast until someone wrangles it, or will I drop? It's a crapshoot."

Clearly transfixed with the story, David Letterman asked the star what he chose to do. Depp responded with a short "I dropped," garnering laughter from the host and his audience. The Pirates star fell on his back and was miraculously not trampled by the stead.

"The one thing that saved me was the horse's instinct to lift his front legs and go over me," he said. "If not, it was coming straight down into the head."

Letterman, astonished at the danger that this super star was in asked,

"Where are the stunt people, for heaven's sake? You're Tonto, you don't need that!"

"That's the exact same question I asked," replied Depp.

The Lone Ranger is directed by Gore Verbinski and also stars Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger. It is set for a July 3 release.

As the show was winding down, Depp joined Americana singer-songwriter and old friend Bill Carter on guitar for the song "Anything Made of Paper."