What would Pirates of the Caribbean be like if Johnny Depp wasn’t Captain Jack Sparrow? That’s what the people at Yahoo Movies started asking themselves when they learned that a writer working on The Curse of the Black Pearl had Hugh Jackman in mind for the part. How seriously was writer Stuart Beattie considering the X-Men actor for the swashbuckling role? Let’s just say it’s not a coincidence that Sparrow’s first name happens to be Jack.Unfortunately for Jackman, Disney didn’t think the actor had the star power they wanted so they went with Depp instead, which seems rather odd when you consider that Depp didn’t really reach super-star status until he portrayed the quirky pirate. At the time, Sleepy Hollow was the only $100 million movie that Depp had on his resume.
Do you think Pirates of the Caribbean would have been a hit with Hugh Jackman as Captain Jack? Personally, I can picture him in the part. Unlike Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly or Tom Selleck as Indiana Jones, I think the character would have worked but it wouldn’t be the Jack Sparrow we know and love. Depp has always added his own unique twist to characters, and it’s his interpretation that really makes the pirate come to life.
