Johnny Depp Explains Disney Execs Couldn't Understand His Take on Captain Jack Sparrow in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
Johnny Depp has a number of iconic roles he has played throughout his career that people recognize him for. One of them is Captain Jack Sparrow from Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise. The wild, drunken pirate captain was such a hit with fans that they had him play the role in five films, and even incorporated an exact replica of Depp’s character into the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland. Depp has visited young fans in the hospital as Jack Sparrow, and has really made the most out of playing him, but as it turns out, Disney executives didn’t understand his portrayal in the beginning.
Depp recalled in his recent trial testimony (via /Film):
"It had all the hallmarks of a Disney film, that is to say, a predictable three-act structure, and the character of Captain Jack was more of a swashbuckler type that would swing in shirtless and be the hero. I had quite different ideas about the character, so I incorporated my notes into the character, and brought that character to life, much to the chagrin of Disney initially."
He went on to talk about the phase of life he was in when he took on the role, which was fatherhood of a young child. He was watching a lot of classic cartoons during that time, and they served as somewhat of an inspiration.
"For example, Wile E. Coyote gets a boulder dropped on his head and he's completely crushed, but they cut to the next scene and he's just got a little bandage on his head ... And nobody ever asked a question, whether you were 5 or 95, you didn't ask a question. 'Oh, Wile E. Coyote, of course he's still alive,' so I tried to incorporate these kinds of ideas into the character of Captain Jack Sparrow, so that I could try to push those parameters and control the suspension of disbelief to be able to control the character's actions, words, movements, and put them in a place where the things that he would do or say were so ... ludicrous ... So, for me, it was a way to stretch the parameters of a character and take a risk."
Depp said he ultimately landed on Captain Jack being a "soup" of Pepé Le Pew and Keith Richards, which didn’t go over so well with Disney. After filming began, Depp explained:
"I got a call from the upper echelon at Disney who were courageous enough to ask me, 'What the f*** are you doing?' And again, the questions came up, 'Is it drunk? Is it gay?' All I could say was, cause they set me up with a great line, I said, 'Well don't you know all my characters are gay?' I really expected to be fired, but I wasn't for some reason. They were actually gonna put subtitles under my character, they couldn't understand Captain Jack."
Whoever ended up making the final call on keeping Depp in the role definitely made the right decision. I think he is what made the films have such a wide appeal, and what made them keep their box office power. He added levity to the films, which were sometimes dark and serious, and I think he gave a great performance that fans will always remember fondly.