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Johnny Depp reveals Disney hated his ‘gay’ portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow

Johnny Depp reveals Disney hated his ‘gay’ portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow
VANITY FAIR

In a new interview, Oscar nominated actor Johnny Depp reveals that Disney hated his “gay” portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow, and that he once quipped to film executives that all his characters “are gay.”

In this month’s edition of Vanity Fair magazine, rock legend Patti Smith interviews Depp about his controversial portrayal Captain Jack Sparrow in the Walt Disney Studios runaway hit film series “Pirates of the Caribbean,” about working with Angelina Jolie, and his own musical aspirations.

In an excerpt from the interview, Depp talks about Disney executive’s dismay over his portrayal of the roguish pirate sea captain, and what it’s like to play the iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow:

“Somebody once asked [Hunter S. Thompson], “What is the sound of one hand clapping, Hunter?,” and he smacked him. Captain Jack was kind of like that for me, an opening up of this part of yourself,” Depp says. “There is a little Bugs Bunny in all of us.”

“They couldn’t stand him. They just couldn’t stand him,” Depp says of Disney’s reaction to his controversial interpretation of Sparrow.

“I think it was Michael Eisner, the head of Disney at the time, who was quoted as saying, ‘He’s ruining the movie.’ Depp reveals to Smith, however, that he remained unfazed by the studio’s hysteria.

“Upper-echelon Disney-ites, going, What’s wrong with him? Is he, you know, like some kind of weird simpleton? Is he drunk? By the way, is he gay?… And so I actually told this woman who was the Disney-ite… ‘But didn’t you know that all my characters are gay?’ Which really made her nervous.”

Depp’s latest film co-starring Jolie, “The Tourist,” is due in theaters on Dec. 10. The next Disney Pirate’s production, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” starring Depp as Sparrow, is currently slated for release in 2011.

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