Hugh Jackman Couldve Been Captain Jack Sparrow if Not for This Reason

The Big Picture

• Pirates of the Caribbean writer and co-creator Stuart Beattie wrote the role of Captain Jack Sparrow with Hugh Jackman in mind, but Disney passed due to his lack of international recognition.
• Disney went through multiple actors, including Jim Carrey and Robert De Niro, before casting Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow.
• Depp's unique interpretation of Jack Sparrow initially concerned Disney, but ultimately led to the success of the character and the film series.

Johnny Depp is Captain Jack Sparrow, and Captain Jack Sparrow is Johnny Depp. Ever since the pauper of the surf, the jester of Tortuga (thanks, Michael Bolton), made his on-screen debut in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the two have become so inextricably linked that it's difficult — nae, impossible — to picture one without the other. It would be great to believe that it was a match from the start, but the truth is, it wasn't. Just like how Christopher Reeve, the definitive Superman, wasn't always first in line for his career-defining role, Depp wasn't the first for Sparrow. Or second. Or third. If writer and co-creator Stuart Beattie had his way, the role would have gone to fellow Aussie Hugh Jackman.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) arrives at Port Royal in the Caribbean without a ship or crew. His timing is inopportune, however, because later that evening the town is besieged by a pirate ship. The pirates kidnap the governor's daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), who's in possession of a valuable coin that is linked to a curse that has transformed the pirates into the undead. A gallant blacksmith (Orlando Bloom) in love with Elizabeth allies with Sparrow in pursuit of the pirates.

Hugh Jackman Put the 'Jack' in Captain Jack Sparrow

Per ABC, the story of Captain Jack Sparrow begins at Oregon State University in 1991. Stuart Beattie was at the university on exchange, and while there he drafted a script for a pirate movie he called Quest for the Caribbean. It was one of a handful of scripts that Beattie would bring to Walt Disney Studios every year, over the course of ten years. And every year, over the course of ten years, he was politely rejected. Beattie's fortunes changed when the chairman of Walt Disney Corporation had the idea to turn three of Disneyland's iconic attractions into films: the Haunted Mansion, Teddy Bears Picnic, and, yep, Pirates of the Caribbean.

As Beattie tells ABC:

"Everyone thought Haunted Mansion and the Teddy Bears Picnic were great ideas and that Pirates was the worst idea. So the executives went, 'God who are we going to get to write this?' and someone said, 'There's that crazy Australian guy who keeps sending us scripts, maybe we should hire him?'. So they called me."

With his foot finally in the door, it was time to polish up the script. So, when it came to creating Captain Jack Sparrow, Beattie envisaged an acquaintance in the role, a talented Aussie actor he knew of (but few others did) who had graduated from the same Sydney boys' school a few years before him. That little-known actor was none other than Hugh Jackman, and not only was Jackman who Beattie had in mind for the role, but he even named the character after him. As Beattie confesses in the same interview, "I had seen him in all these musicals growing up, so I knew this guy was a phenomenal talent and so that's what I thought of, 'Jack. Yeah, Jack Sparrow!'"

Why Didn't Disney Want Hugh Jackman as Jack Sparrow?

While Hugh Jackman made a name for himself in Australia, internationally he had yet to make his mark. Disney wasn't willing to take a chance on the relative unknown, however, and dismissed Stuart Beattie's suggestion right off the bat (don't feel too bad — Beattie and Jackman would work together with American/Australian actress Nicole Kidman in 2008's oddly-appropriate Australia). With Jackman off a list he was never really on in the first place, Disney pursued others for the role of the rogueish pirate, like many others considered for iconic characters before settling on one. Jim Carrey was offered the role, but had to turn it down when it clashed with the filming of Bruce Almighty (Carrey, and Tom Cruise, were also in the running for another Depp role, the titular hero of Edward Scissorhands). Michael Keaton was another actor considered for Sparrow, as was Christopher Walken. (Don't try and even picture that, it's frightening.) Cary Elwes, Matthew McConaughey, and Rik Mayall of Drop Dead Fred fame made the shortlist as well. The strangest name attached to Jack Sparrow, though, has to be Robert De Niro. De Niro was offered the role, reportedly, but thought that a pirate movie would tank at the box office, as many pirate movies prior had, and declined. He would end up playing a pirate, Captain Shakespeare, in Stardust, which, ironically, did flop.

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So the role fell to Depp, who promptly almost lost it. Depp himself explains the process he took to create Sparrow, and Disney's reaction to it, in a 2018 interview at the Zurich Film Festival. Sparrow was written as a swashbuckler, not unlike the depictions of pirates throughout Hollywood history. Depp, however, rationalized what a pirate under those conditions would actually be like. His mental stability would be affected by long periods in the heat, and he'd be wobbly on land due to his sea legs. For Sparrow's look and demeanor, producer Jerry Bruckheimer says that Depp based Sparrow on a "combination of Keith Richards and Pepé Le Pew." Upon Disney executives seeing Depp's interpretation, Depp recalls the reaction: "'What’s he doing?' Then I got phone calls: 'You’ve got to lose the dangly things and what’s that sore on your face?' 'What’s going on? Is he mentally just gone, left the building a long time ago, or is he just incredibly drunk or is he gay?'" To the latter, Depp cheekily replied, "Sorry, don't you know that all my characters are gay?" Micheal Eisner, the head of Disney at the time, screamed, "Depp is ruining the film! We’re going to have to subtitle it. Nobody can understand what he’s saying. What is he doing?" Nevertheless, Depp kept the role, and Disney made a ton of money as a result.

Disney Didn't Want Hugh Jackman, but 'X-Men' Did

As for Hugh Jackman, the fates had something more in mind. As X-Men screenwriter David Hayter recalls, the character of Wolverine was originally created for Australian permanent resident Mel Gibson, but that didn't pan out. Viggo Mortensen came in to audition, as did Glenn Danzig, a self-proclaimed Wolverine fanatic. Fox executive Tom Rothman was pushing for actor Dougray Scott in the role, and he was the name settled on. Only he was shooting Mission: Impossible 2 at the time, and Tom Cruise kept insisting that Scott was needed "a little while longer." After this had gone on for some time, it started to smell fishy. The costume designer went to Australia, where M:I2 was being filmed, and found out what was really happening. Scott had been in a motorcycle accident during filming, and seriously injured as a result. Jackman's name had been tossed about earlier in the process, so executive producer Lauren Shuler Donner said, "Why don't we bring him?" Jackman landed the role of Wolverine, claimed it as his own, and the rest, as they say, is history.

If Jackman had been given the role of Captain Jack Sparrow, it's likely he, too, would have delivered a memorable performance, but the character would have been dramatically different. Physically, Jackman and Depp are polar opposites, which would affect Sparrow's actions, and it's unlikely that Jackman would have had the same rationalization process to build the character as Depp. All said, it's clear that things worked out as they should have, with both Depp and Jackman building wildly successful, career-defining characters. Jackman will be bringing his Wolverine out of retirement for the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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