Get to know ‘Pirates’ hottie Brenton Thwaites
Aussie takes star turn in ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’
There’s a new swashbuckling babe setting sail with the sea-roving Jack Sparrow.
Brenton Thwaites, the 27-yearold addition to Pirates of the
Caribbean, makes his franchise debut in Dead Men Tell No Tales (in theaters now).
If the native of Cairns, Queensland, reminds you of his fellow Australian Heath Ledger — who also boasted a piercing smile — you’re not alone. The late Dark
Knight actor had a huge effect on the budding star.
“He was one of the young actors at the time (appearing in) huge, big American blockbuster movies,” Thwaites says. “And he kind of instilled a hope in us young Aussies that we could come over and make it in America.”
American audiences got a taste of the actor in Lifetime’s 2012 TV remake of Blue Lagoon. Fans will also remember the hunky Aussie from his appearance as Prince Phillip in Maleficent and his role as Jeff Bridges’ rebellious apprentice Jonas in The Giver.
In the fifth Pirates installment, Thwaites plays Henry Turner, the genetically gifted son of Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), who partners with Johnny Depp’s Captain Sparrow in an effort to free his father, who has been fated to helm the ghost ship the Flying Dutchman for eternity.
A fan of the series, Thwaites was anxious his first day on the set, but eager to meet the man behind the pirate.
“You never knew what direction (Depp) was going to take a scene,” he says, describing the way Depp improvised dialogue when Henry tries to forge an alliance with a jailed Jack. “Every take, he would say something completely different and somehow manage to stay on track with the story.”
Though he learned a lot from Depp, it didn’t help with one element of filming. Thwaites had trouble fighting in high-heeled shoes. “All the ladies had to do it, but I had to do it in, like, tiny high heels — not anything to (write) home about, but I remember thinking, ‘This is really tricky.’ ”
In addition to meeting Depp, the movie introduced Thwaites to another important person: girlfriend Chloe Pacey.
The two met on Australia’s Gold Coast while Thwaites was filming. They welcomed a daughter, Birdie, who turned 1 in March. Thwaites describes the first year of fatherhood as “wild.”
“It’s been a non-stop roller coaster, to be honest,” he says.
In addition to spending as much of his downtime as he can with his daughter, Thwaites expresses himself creatively by playing guitar and painting.
Though he is perhaps less inspired by some of his portraits. “I remember trying to paint Angelina Jolie (his Maleficent co-star) once and it didn’t turn out so good,” he admits. “I got her eyes and then it all went Pete Tong after that.”
At least he has acting to fall back on, which, if he has his way, will include more adventures in the Caribbean. “I’d love to do as many Pirates as they would stick me in,” he says. He’ll be seen next in An Inter
view With God, in which he plays a journalist interviewing a man proclaiming to be the Almighty;
Office Uprising, an adventure comedy in which employees are tasked with using office supplies to kill zombies; and Ghosts of
War, about World War II soldiers who discover the French chateau they are protecting houses supernatural forces.
We can’t Thwaite.