The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been a huge money maker for Disney and, after a lackluster previous outing, there's a lot riding on the return of the series. However, that's not why one of the new actors was nervous about performing his scenes. Brenton Thwaites makes his debut in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. It's clearly got to be daunting to have such a major role in such a big movie, but for the actor, the scariest part of the production was just acting opposite Captain Jack Sparrow.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly Brenton Thwaites remembers his first time standing across from Johnny Depp in full Captain Jack dress, as his character Henry Turner tries to convince Jack to work together to obtain the Trident of Poseidon, an artifact that both of them need to help themselves. Prior to shooting, Thwaites says he was terrified to perform with a character he'd known since he was a kid.
I just remember being absolutely terrified, like I'd never acted in my life before doing this scene. I just remember thinking, 'How am I going to stand there and talk to Johnny Depp for three minutes, opposite a character that I'd grown up with in my teenage years? It's not going to be possible.'
Brenton Thwaites is all of 27 years old, meaning he was around 13 when Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl debuted and introduced the world to Captain Jack Sparrow. It's unlikely the young boy in the movie theater had any idea he'd become part of the franchise 14 years later and find himself acting with the character on the screen. Both Johnny Depp and Captain Jack Sparrow are Hollywood icons these days so it's not necessarily that surprising that Brenton Thwaites would be nervous. For what it's worth he says that the scene in question is actually "one of the finer scenes" in the movie now, so he was apparently able to get over his nerves.
However, one group is likely still very nervous about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, fans of the franchise. Whatever one thinks of the original trilogy as a whole, the last film, On Stranger Tides was pretty much universally disliked, regardless of how much money it made. However, early reviews of Dead Men Tell No Tales have been strong overall, so it's possible that the new film will be a return to form.
If the new film is as good as people are saying we're certainly excited to check it out. We'll finally have our chance when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales hits screens May 26. You can check out everything we know about the movie here.
