You can tell that he really feels very deeply about the character!
Yes, that is a wonderful thing and really bodes well for the film.
Though the more I think about it, the most I suspect that Depp probably didn't do himself any favors by remarking that his performance as Barnabas won't stray very far from Frid's because that's a perfect setup for the contingent of Frid's fans who believes no one can play Barnabas but Frid. Sure, they were going to come after Depp anyway - that's a given - but now they're going to be armed with the notion that Depp will be sticking closely to Frid's interpretation, so every little thing that Depp might do that can be perceived by them as something Frid would not have done will be that much more magnified because Depp said he won't stray very far from what Frid did. They're not going to simply interpret Depp's remark, as, say, our own Cousin_Barnabas did, to mean that Depp's Barnabas will be very recognizable. And a defense that one needs to realize that naturally Depp wouldn't play scenes as Frid might have because Depp would want to make the role of Barnabas his own will be hard to make fly with them because Depp has said he won't stray very far from Frid's performance.
Though, of course, in the grand scheme of things that remark from Depp isn't going to matter much outside of fandom because we fans of the original DS aren't the target audience for the film. We're but a minute faction of the audience they're hoping to attract and need to attract for the film to be successful. And the actual target audience will not be dissecting Depp's every expression and gesture and comparing it to what Frid might have done like that contingent of Frid's fans in all probability will...
Until this snippet, I'd been a little bummed that we haven't heard more talk about DS yet in these press interviews
Sadly, more reports seem to be focused on Justin Bieber's surprise appearance than they are with anything Depp had to say.