Sunday, May 8, 2011

Johnny Depp on a Quest for The Fountain of Youth in 4th “Pirates” Film


Johnny Depp, who had fallen unabashedly in love with the character of Captain Jack Sparrow over the course of the first three “Pirates” films, was certainly game for another new adventure in Walt Disney Pictures' “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.” “The idea of a fourth one after finishing ‘Pirates 3’ was somewhere in the back of your head, thinking ‘I sure hope so,’” notes Depp.

When you’re done playing Captain Jack, there’s a real decompression getting out of that skin, because I like being in that skin,” says Depp. “There’s a great comfort in playing Captain Jack, because you have license to be completely irreverent, completely subversive, absolutely abstract in all situations. I know him so well that it just comes naturally.”

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise - this time in Disney Digital 3D™. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penélope Cruz), Jack Sparrow is not sure if it’s love - or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica.

Depp adds, “I was very happy with the work that Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio did on the screenplay for ‘On Stranger Tides.’ It was like the gates were reopened and it was all fresh. It really felt closer in spirit to the first film, getting from Point A to Point D to Point Z without too many subplots and complications.”

Depp was also enthusiastic to work for a fourth time with Jerry Bruckheimer, who had guarded the actor’s wholly original vision of Captain Jack Sparrow when the first film began to shoot. “We wouldn’t have been able to get away with a third of what we got away with on ‘Pirates 1’ without Jerry Bruckheimer,” states the actor. “Without Jerry’s support, and his understanding of the material, saying ‘Okay, I know that some people are scared but this sure seems funny to me, why don’t we go with it,’ the first film would have been much more generic, not much fun, and I would have been fired!

Jerry knows these films well. I’ve been in umpteen script meetings with the guy and never a false note comes up; he always comes up with something interesting. And if you’re in a pinch, he’s always the guy who says ‘Don’t worry about it; we’ll get it taken care of.’ Jerry really produces; he’s untamed all the time and allows us to be in an atmosphere that’s conducive to making something interesting and different. There have never been pressures in that regard; it’s always sort of, you know, Bruckheimer’s got it. You know he’s handling it. It’s cool.

Bruckheimer notes, “At this point Johnny is the most popular actor in the world, one of the best actors in the world, and certainly the most committed and hard-working. He’s somebody you love working with because every day he comes on the set with a smile, ready to go to work and have a great time, yet work very hard.”

Opening across the Philippines on May 20 2011 in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D and regular format, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.

- Walt Disney Studios Press Statement

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