Depp ‘doesn’t need lines’

One of Johnny Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean co-stars has come to Depp’s defence against allegations he pays to have his lines fed through to him.

Depp’s former managers filed documents in court that alleged Depp spent hundreds of thousands of dollars paying people to feed him lines while on set.

Actor Brenton Thwaites, who co-stars with Depp in the latest outing of the swashbuckling film series, said it was ‘‘impossible’’ he was having his lines fed through to him.

‘‘I’d say it’s normal for older actors who have memory problems. Johnny’s too impulsive to do that, every take is different,’’ Thwaites said.

Thwaites’ character is a headstrong young sailor who teamed up with Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) in their quest to find the only thing that could save them, the Trident of Poseidon.

Allegations against Depp state that he payed thousands for a sound engineer to feed him lines while he acted. Reporters at the court said the claims were made to paint Depp as someone too entitled to memorise his own lines and therefore take responsibility for his own actions. The claims were made during a case Depp took against his ex-managers, TMG.

Thwaites, who started working with Depp in 2015, said while Depp may not know his lines well, he definitely wasn’t paying to have someone tell them to him.

‘‘Johnny’s so used to playing this character, he’s done it for five years. He knows this, it’s just him,’’ Thwaites said.

He recalled how Depp would say something different every take, he ad-libbed his way through filming, and Thwaites said it worked.

Asked if Depp could have been getting lines fed through to him, Thwaites said: ‘‘Logistically, I don’t know how the tech could keep up with that.’’

Depp filed a NZ$47 million lawsuit against his former managers, claiming they had been mismanaging his earnings.