AHOY, PIRATES ON BOARD!
Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back! This time to face deadly ghost sailors led by Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) in Salazar’s Revenge (aka Dead Men Tell No Tales), releasing in the UAE today
Javier Bardem is no stranger to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise when he was asked to play Captain Salazar in the fifth installment, Salazar’s Revenge (aka Dead Men Tell No Tales), releasing in the UAE today.
“My wife, Penelope (Cruz), was in On Stranger Tide and I was very happy to be part of the group because I saw them working on the movie and I thought they did a great job, so I knew it was going to be a great experience. I felt honoured to be part of it. I had some ideas and some images based on what they were saying about the character in the script, and based on that I had some images of a wounded bull, full of rage and with a strong need for revenge. But, we also had to find the humour in it,” said the actor on how he approached his character in the movie.
For Bardem, playing the ghostly villain was “a new challenge.” Excerpts from an interview:
Did you have some idea in your mind of how you wanted to play Captain Salazar?
Not really. I think we – Jerry Bruckheimer and Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, the directors, and also Jeff Nathanson, the screenwriter – talked about it and had different ideas, but at the end, we made it happen on set!
Tell us a bit more about Salazar?
Captain Salazar was a Spanish captain, commanding a big flotilla of Spanish ships. He had a personal back story with his father and his mother that made him very opposed to pirates. He met Jack Sparrow when he was 12-years-old, and was defeated by him, so his anger and his rage against pirates built even bigger. Salazar dies but wants to come back, and he needs to come back to life through revenge, through finding Jack Sparrow and breaking the curse that he created in him.
How was it working with Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush?
Working with Geoffrey Rush is always a pleasure and an honour. I still remember the first day I saw Shine in the movie theatre. I was blown away. He’s a fantastic actor and he’s really into the work. He’s a very committed, detailed actor who wants to do everything with perfection. It was very rewarding for me to be near him and always learning from such an amazing actor. With Johnny, I had a few scenes, a few moments, but I had a chance to meet him a long time ago, and it feels like it was yesterday, so it’s very easy. Johnny is a great guy, very sweet and a fantastic actor. You just go there and they say “action” and he’s always ready. For me it was difficult to not just be a spectator, watching what he does because he does it so well. He controls the character that he’s playing so much.
As Salazar, are you speaking with a specific regional Spanish accent?
Yes, because of the way they referred to him in the story as El Matador – the way we imagined he could sometimes execute his victims – and also because at the time the best sailors were from Andalusia, from the south of Spain. So we decided to bring the Andalusian, south-of-Spain flavour into it, which makes sense because those were the sailors at the time.
Was playing Salazar a challenge?
It was a new challenge for sure. There is a point in the story where I can relate to him. I can understand his mentality. I like to escape as much as I can from a black and white characterisation. Of course, he’s a villain, but also we can find empathy for him. We can find a way of being in character that people can relate to in one way or the other.
How long did it take for you to “look” the part?
It took two to three hours in the makeup chair every day. It’s pretty amazing what they’ve done with the makeup. Outstanding!
Why should audiences look forward to Pirates of the Caribbean?
It’s not only in the sense of visual and special effects, but also the fun of seeing Jack Sparrow doing his thing again. But there are also very interesting characters in the plot. There are new characters that are going to bring new flavour to it.
Johnny is a great guy, very sweet and a fantastic actor. He controls the character that he’s playing so much.” Javier Bardem