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Famous, July 2006 Transcribed by Deppraved Captain Courageous Johnny Depp took a big risk when he agreed to star as the flamboyant Captain Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. But his eccentric turn paid huge dividends for everyone involved, and now Depp returns as Captain Jack in the sequel, Dead Man's Chest, and as he explains, there's no one else he'd rather be. On page 6, the editorial by Marni Weisz says this:
Pirating Movie Yes, the wenches and scallywags of the Spanish Main were given a break from chasing each other in circles as some new residents - Captain Jack Sparrow and his ghostly nemesis Barbossa from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie and Davy Jones, villain of the sequel - were brought in, bolted in place and hooked up to complicated computer programs that will have them racing each other in search of plundered treasure over and over and over again for years. Now...you just had one of two reactions. If you have never been to a Disney theme park, or you have just the faintest childhood memories of getting sick on Space Mountain or standing in a two-hour line for the Jungle Cruise, then you probably responded, "meh." But if you harbour a strange affection for the land of eerily lifelike Animatrons and strictly enforced happiness, as I do, you likely said, "What!? How can they tamper with one of the few remaining classics? That's blasphemy!" Such is the power of this movie franchise. Some trepidation preceded the release of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, 2003's The Curse of the Black Pearl. Another attraction-to-screen adaptation, The Country Bears, had been released the year before to little applause, and The Haunted Mansion, which came out a few months later, was a blight upon the reputation of the 999 happy haunts who live in that big, spooky house. But to everyone's delight The Curse of the Black Pearl was a hit in every way - critical, box office...Johnny Depp even earned an Oscar nomination. And so the movie that was spawned by the theme park attraction has, in turn, changed the ride forever. In "A Pirate's Life for Him," page 32, Depp explains how the movies changed his life forever too. (Editorial goes on to talk about several other films coming out at the same time as DMC, so I'm skipping ahead to the main article starting on page 32.)
A Pirate's Life for Him Johnny Depp took the unlikeliest of roles and turned it into an Oscar nomination. Now the unpredictable actor returns to his beloved Captain Jack Sparrow for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. A lot of people were surprised when Johnny Depp decided to make a movie based on a Disney theme park ride. Depp, after all, seemed to be shunning Hollywood by living in France and appearing in arty/indie films like Chocolat and Before Night Falls. But Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl turned out to be a surprising critical, as well as popular, success thanks mostly to Depp's risky performance as swaggering pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. He even earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the character, which he admitted was based on Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. But a sequel, well, that's another story. No one would have been surprised if the unconventional actor had said, "Thanks, but I must be moving on." He didn't. "For me, there was only one reason to do more Pirates of the Caribbean movies - it was Captain Jack," confesses the 43-year-old actor, clad in black from head to toe, during a recent interview in Los Angeles. "It was selfishly just the opportunity to play Captain Jack again. Some people could look at that and say, 'Well, Depp sold out.' I don't believe that I have. It certainly wasn't my intention to sell out." Depp, co-stars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley and director Gore Verbinski all returned to shoot not one, but two, sequels back-to-back in the Bahamas last summer and fall, with a mere six-week break in between. Similar to the first film, the second - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - has Sparrow battling supernatural forces. This time it's Davy Jones, the devil-like figure who rules the evil spirits of the deep. Sparrow owes a debt to Jones, and if he doesn't pay up he will spend the rest of eternity serving the villain on his doomed ghost ship. Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) and Will Turner (Bloom) are pulled into their friend Jack's predicament just as they are about to wed. But the cast and crew found themselves in fear of an entity more dangerous than CGI spirits. "We were filming during one of the largest active hurricane seasons in history, so were monitoring the National Hurricane Center on a daily basis," recalls Depp. "We would be watching the storms closely, and when you'd see them make a turn you started having memories of what happened in Louisiana." And they did have to evacuate as Hurricane Wilma neared. "So I packed my bags and flew straight to Los Angeles to see my two kiddies {with actor/singer Vanessa Paradis}. It kind of put everything into perspective." What was it like making two films back-to-back? "Well, it was definitely a lengthy process. But it was a smart idea to do it that way because if we were going to come back for a third one, it would have taken forever for it to happen...Who knows when we all could be free to do a third Pirates movie? Keira is now an Oscar-nominated actress, so everyone wants her. The same with Orlando, ever since Lord of the Rings he's been so much in demand. And he's a hunk these days, too, didn't you know? Those two could work 365 days a year if they wanted to. And I guess I could, too, but I have a family I love to spend time with. So if we hadn't done Pirates III at the same time it could have taken years for it to happen. Possibly never." Was it hard to be away from your family for those two extended periods? "No, because they were able to spend a lot of time with me when we were in the Bahamas. It was great because it was like a big family getaway. I think the most that I've ever been apart from my kids and my girl has been like four or five weeks and that drove me mad. One shouldn't have to do that. I can't do it. So, as much as is humanly possible, I bring them with me on location. If Vanessa is doing a film and I'm not working I'll go on location with her. I have to have them around." What were some of the things you did together in the Bahamas? "Oh, man. All the fun stuff like running around on the beach with the kids, going swimming, taking them out on a boat. They loved it." What was it about Captain Jack that brought you back for two sequels? "What happens for me, and I can only speak for myself, is that once you've clicked into that character you're playing, you really start to know the guy, you become very close with him and you love him. You enjoy playing him. So it's always very, very difficult at the end of a movie. There is that week to 10 days before the film wraps where you can feel and hear the clock ticking and then you sometimes go through a really nasty kind of depression afterwards. There's an odd separation anxiety, because you've just been this person for a pretty good length of time, and then they're suddenly gone." You have a 'Jack' tattoo, is it real? "That's real, yeah. But that's for my boy, not Captain Jack. My son's name is Jack." Why Keith Richards? "It was a combination of things, really. Initially, I was trying to figure out what pirates were in the 18th century. What would the equivalent be today? I kind of thought that pirates of the 18th century were really the rock and roll stars of that era. So I just started thinking about rock and roll stars. Who's the greatest rock and roll star, the coolest rock and roll star? To me it was Keith Richards. Keith is pretty piratey. So Keith became the main ingredient." Did you know him? "A little bit, yeah. I've spent time with him over the years. I've spent time with him and his family. He's a great man. He's amazing. Wise. Beautiful guy. So there was the Keith Richards element, and then there was a cartoon character that somehow stayed in my head that I thought would be good for the character, Pepe Le Pew. The cartoon skunk." Keith Richards once described his art as just pulling a song down out of the sky. Do you think that you can just pull characters out of the sky? "Well, I mean, as long as I can sort of observe people I feel like I'm always going to be able to store these tidbits and gems and stuff that people give me or that I steal. But there was a moment a few years back when I was having a conversation with good old Marlon Brando, God bless him. He said, 'How many movies do you do a year?' I said, 'I don't know. Sometimes two. Sometimes three.' He said, 'You have to watch yourself.' I said, 'Why is that?' He said, 'Because we only have so many faces in our pockets.' And after all this time later, I sort of realize how right he was. He was very, very wise." Would you like to be a pirate? "Not necessarily, although my daughter thinks I'm a pirate. I just knew the guy. I knew every angle. To me he was like a kind of constantly moving organism who could just shape himself to the situation to get whatever he needed. But at the same time, he always had a martini glass. That kind of guy." There's a lot of physical comedy with Captain Jack. "That was another element of the character to me. I thought, here's a guy who spent a lot of time battling with the elements. Way too much time in the sun. And the brain has really been affected by that intense heat. A guy who's on a ship and is infinitely more comfortable with the movement of the ocean than he is on dry land. And a guy who can enjoy that, use that to his advantage in a way almost to hypnotize, like a cobra." Are you a sailor in real life? "I've sailed a few times. Many, many years ago I sailed from the south of France over to Corsica, it was really fun. It was really fun finding out, too, because I didn't know we were actually doing that. I thought we were taking a day trip. Then, the next thing I knew I didn't see land anymore. I yelled in panic, 'What happened? Where are we going?' It was a weird thing." How has your commercial success over the past few years changed your life? "Here's an oxymoron for you, work ethic. It hasn't changed my approach to the work. It hasn't changed my outlook of the work. I've been very, very lucky in my life that I've worn many hats, literally. I'd love to show them all to you. I've done everything from selling ink pens over the telephone to screen-printed T-shirts. I worked in construction. I was a musician for a number of years. I was a busboy. I've done a lot of different things and I've had a great deal of luck in this business. So I'm somewhat together enough to know that if the ride is going smoothly and fun and well and everything is peachy keen this week that all that could evaporate next week. And if I'm once again that weird guy that does art films that's okay. I've always said I've never had any allergy to the idea of commercial success. It was just how you got there that was important."
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