Disney almost fired Johnny Depp from the Pirates of the Caribbean because the executives didn’t understand his interpretation of Captain Jack Sparrow.

The actor reveals studio bosses were confused by his oddball swashbuckling character, which was partly inspired by rocker Keith Richards. He says, “They couldn’t understand what I was doing… Disney wanted to fire me… They were actually contemplating subtitling the film.”

Depp also says that he would have happily left the film but he made it clear he would expect compensation for the time he spent preparing for the character and filming. He explains, “I was probably as close to getting fired as anyone could be. I spoke to one of the execs at the time and said, ‘You’re right, you should fire me – but you’ll have to pay me for my time.'” He stayed and the movie franchise went on to be very successful at the box office.

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