“Me? I’m dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest.”
Michael Keaton, Jim Carrey and Christopher Walken were all considered for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow. Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Tobey Maguire, Christopher Masterson and Christian Bale were all considered for the role of Will Turner. Singer Jimmy Buffett was offered a role as a pirate, but had to decline due to previous engagements. When the screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio first pitched the movie to Disney in the early ’90s, it was rejected. When Steven Spielberg got the script he wanted to cast either Bill Murray, Steve Martin or Robin Williams to play Captain Jack Sparrow. But Disney wouldn’t give approval. The title originally was just, “Pirates of the Caribbean” but they added, “The Curse of the Black Pearl” in case it did well at the box office so they could make a sequel. The movie is inspired by and takes its concept from the popular Walt Disney theme park ride of the same name. Disney has released R rated films under their Touchstone Pictures label since the 1980’s, but this was their first PG-13 film in the U.S. under the Walt Disney name. According to Johnny Depp, pirates were the 18th century equivalent to rock stars back then, so his characterization of Sparrow was heavily inspired by his friend Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. But he claims it was not an impersonation. Depp wanted to portray Captain Sparrow with a lot of gold teeth, so he had his dentist implant real gold in his teeth for the production. Many of the offhand “eunuch” remarks were improvisations by Johnny Depp, including the catch phrase, “Savvy?”
