Apparently everyone who steps on board the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film franchise falls under the spell of Johnny Depp. Sitting down for interviews last week, new costars Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane made a point to praise the buccaneer spirit at the center of their shared cinematic adventure, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” which hits theaters on May 20.
“Johnny is a diamond of a guy, he's terrifically talented,” said McShane, who plays the nefarious Blackbeard in the Disney spectacle film. “Look, he's a sweetheart. He is, as they say, a very gifted character actor who backed into being a movie star with this [franchise]. Johnny was having a fine career doing the movies he chose and then this came along. The great thing is, he loves playing this character. He's not bored by it, he's not bored at all. Sparrow is a great character, loved by children, women, men, whatever, everyone. What's not to be a big fan of? It must be kind of nice for him to know that he can revisit this every two or three years and be paid more than the national debt of most countries.”
Cruz portrays Angelica, the pirate vixen who has a love-hate relationship with Depp's ever-eccentric Jack Sparrow, but off-screen the Madrid native can barely contain her affection for her offbeat leading man: “He gives you so much, his level of creativity is so high, so free. He never looks at himself from the outside, he just flies. We all know that he is one of the greatest actors in the world, but then when you get to really know him as a person, he is unique and genuine. He has a brilliant mind and a peculiar sense of humor and then that is mixed with how giving he is to everyone and how humble and how kind. It makes him someone really special.”
Here's a Disney featurette on Sparrow, Angelica and their thrust-and-parry relationship on screen …
