Disney was initially afraid of Johnny Depp ruining the ‘Pirates’ franchise.

Very few franchises have ever so successfully pulled off what Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean did, with ease. Well, undoubtedly, a major portion of that credit goes to Johnny Depp who played the titular character of the eccentric pirate. This led many fans to believe there won’t be any further films in the franchise without Depp.

Johnny Depp

Unfortunately, according to Johnny Depp, Disney wasn’t always convinced of his capabilities to portray Captain Jack Sparrow. The actor revealed how he almost got fired, as Disney execs felt he was ruining the character and the films, with his over-the-top acting.

Johnny Depp’s ‘Pirates’ Franchise Was an Immediate Hit

When Johnny Depp’s first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, based on a Disneyland theme park ride, hit the theatres in 2003, no one knew what to expect from it. It was almost like an experimental film released by Disney. But much to everyone’s surprise, the movie became an immediate hit, which encouraged Disney to turn it into a franchise with few other sequels.

Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow

Bagging over billions of dollars at the global box office, the Pirates of the Caribbean turned into one of the most renowned franchises of this era.

Johnny Depp was hailed by fans and critics for turning the eccentric character of Captain Jack Sparrow, into an iconic swashbuckler. But quite shockingly, his performance was based on his idea of pirates.

Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was an immediate hit

Upon researching, Johnny Depp discovered that, in their day, the pirates were regarded as rockstars. This led Depp to base his now-famous interpretation of Jack Sparrow on his favorite rockstar, Keith Richards.

However, despite his broad portrayal and prolific performance, Disney wasn’t convinced of his capabilities as the portrayal wasn’t anything close to what they expected.

Disney Initially Lacked Faith in Johnny Depp

There was a time when Disney executives were initially resistant and almost decided to fire the actor. Lacking faith in Johnny Depp, the studio heads were unsure of the actor’s capabilities to portray the role of Captain Jack Sparrow. Clearly, the execs weren’t impressed with Depp’s over-the-top performance.

Depp revealed Disney execs weren’t impressed with his performance

During a panel at A.F.I. Fest via ENews, Johnny Depp revealed how he was inches close to getting fired from his role. The actor’s over-the-top performance wasn’t well received at Disney studios. Eventually, his portrayal prompted a Disney executive to call and ask, “what the f–k are you doing?”

“Yeah, they wanted to fire me. It trickled back to me that [former Disney CEO] Michael Eisner went on some sort of bent about how ‘Goddamnit Johnny Depp’s ruining the film! Is it drunk? Is it gay?’ So I fully expected to be fired.”

Depp was almost fired for his over-the-top performance

“I got a call from the upper echelon at Disney who were courageous enough to ask me, ‘what the f*ck are you doing?’. I said, ‘Well don’t you know all my characters are gay? I really expected to be fired, but I wasn’t for some reason. They were actually gonna put subtitles under my character, they couldn’t understand Captain Jack.”

Luckily, Disney took a gamble on Johnny Depp’s drunkenly charming take on the character, and it eventually paid off.