Movies - TV
Pirates Of The Caribbean Didn't Originally Plan On Having a Paul McCartney Cameo
By JENNA BUSCH
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” series featured cameos of music legend Keith Richards as Jack Sparrow’s father — an appropriate role since Sparrow’s actor Johnny Depp based his performance on Richards. The Rolling Stones musician was set to reprise his role for “Dead Men Tell No Tales” but was later replaced by another Sparrow relative and music icon.
One of the directors, Joachim Rønning, said they had already written the scene for Richards, but due to conflicting schedules, Richards couldn’t make it to Australia. Rønning said, “We should honor the tradition of showing a Jack Sparrow family member,” so he, co-director Espen Sandberg, and Depp brainstormed who could replace Richards.
Sir Paul McCartney’s name was at the top of the list, and Rønning shared that Depp already had his number and said, “You know, I’ll text him! No problem.” McCartney agreed and became Uncle Jack Sparrow for the fifth “Pirates” film and gave Rønning the chance to record him singing a sea shanty — an opportunity that Rønning said was “a big, big moment.”