Disney bosses were initially dismayed by Johnny Depp's character in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, the actor has revealed. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Depp recalls the perplexed horror in which studio executives held Captain Jack Sparrow, the pirate loosely based upon Keith Richards.
"They just couldn't stand him," says Depp. "I think it was Michael Eisner, the head of Disney at the time, who was quoted as saying, 'He's ruining the movie.'"
However, the interview, conducted by Patti Smith, shows Depp was unfazed by the studio's bafflement. "Upper-echelon Disney-ites [were] going, 'What's wrong with him? Is he, you know, like some kind of weird simpleton? Is he drunk? By the way, is he gay?' … And so I actually told this woman who was the Disney-ite … 'But didn't you know that all my characters are gay?' Which really made her nervous."
The fourth Pirates film, On Stranger Tides, is scheduled for release next year.
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