Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Brody's Journal... Johnny Depp Reveals Disney Hated His 'Gay' Captain Jack Sparrow Portrayal

By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) NOV 30 | In this month's edition of Vanity Fair magazine, rock legend Patti Smith interviews Oscar nominated actor Johnny Depp about working with Angelina Jolie, his controversial portrayal of the character of Captain Jack Sparrow from the Walt Disney Studios runaway hit film series Pirates of the Caribbean, and his own musical aspirations.
Depp's latest film co-starring Angelina Jolie, The Tourist, is due to be released in theatres on December 10th. The next Disney Pirate's production, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,  starring Depp as Sparrow, is currently slated for release in 2011.
In an excerpt from the interview, Depp talks about Disney executive's dismay over his portrayal of the roguish pirate sea captain:
On the set of the upcoming installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, Smith asks Depp what it’s like to play the iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow. “Somebody once asked [Hunter S. Thompson], “What is the sound of one hand clapping, Hunter?,” and he smacked him. Captain Jack was kind of like that for me, an opening up of this part of yourself,” Depp says. “There is a little Bugs Bunny in all of us.” 
“They couldn’t stand him. They just couldn’t stand him,” Depp says of Disney’s reaction to his controversial interpretation of Sparrow. “I think it was Michael Eisner, the head of Disney at the time, who was quoted as saying, ‘He’s ruining the movie.’ Depp reveals to Smith, however, that he remained unfazed by the studio’s hysteria. “Upper-echelon Disney-ites, 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.”
Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow  
Photo courtesy of the Walt Disney Studios 
Read Smith's interview online at Vanity Fair magazine here: [ Link

1 comments:

Trab said...

What can I add? I've always loved Depp and his performances. He just has a way of getting into the part that makes the character a real person, not just a fake.

When Jack Sparrow opened his mouth, and even before that, I just knew he was going to be gay, and I admired Disney for doing that. Little did I know it was despite Disney. They should be ashamed of themselves; unlike Depp, who can be proud of what he's done.