It’s hard to picture Captain Jack Sparrow being played by anyone other than Johnny Depp. Depp inhabits the part so completely that it has become the actor’s most famous role and probably always will be. But, if one of the writers responsible for crafting Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl had had his way, Depp might never have played the role at all.
Stuart Beattie, who has a “story by” credit on Black Pearl, told the Advance Lounge Chair series that he wrote the part with Hugh Jackman in mind. He even named “Jack” Sparrow after Jackman. Though we might never have thought of it, the casting choice does make a certain kind of sense. Cross Jackman’s The Boy From Oz performance with his Wolverine and suddenly an alternate, and still pretty hilarious, vision of the iconic pirate isn’t so hard to picture.
However, it was not to be. Disney didn’t believe that Jackman was a big enough star and chose Depp instead, despite the fact that he only had one $100 million dollar movie to his credit at the time: Sleepy Hollow. And, as a Captain Jack fan, I’m glad they did. Jackman has thrived in his own career trajectory, and the fact that Captain Jack Sparrow made Depp a star has been a boon for movie lovers everywhere.
