Brenton Thwaites has starred in Maleficent, Gods of Egypt and now he has joined the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise. We sat down to talk with him about his new roles – in such an iconic franchise and as a new dad. He also shares with us how he drives fear into the hearts of those he works with by skateboarding on set. I kid. 😉

Brenton Thwaites Interview: On Joining Pirates, Johnny Depp & Skateboarding

[Brenton Thwaites shares with us a little about how he got involved in the film, he auditioned a few times and then was thrilled when he got it, and about his character’s background – very important in the movie, so pay attention when you watch it – no spoilers here! And then we dive into how he liked working with Johnny Depp and his thoughts on joining such an established franchise.]

Brenton Thwaites: It was terrifying. It’s always terrifying because you never know what he’s gonna say or do and it always results in humiliation for me. This guy now is five movies worth of Jack Sparrow. And he’s on the ball and kind of irreverent and impulsive. It kind of improves your acting in the sense that you’re always open and free and relaxed to go with the flow, but [it’s] also pretty terrifying.

[Brenton Thwaites is a new dad, so he shares with us a little about this adventure.]

Brenton Thwaites: It’s great being a part of Disney because, as a studio, it really, plays for the younger audiences. I did a movie released in 2014 called Maleficent which is something I can’t wait for my daughter to see. Pirates may take a while just because it’s quite scary, you know? Maleficent is, as well, but there [are] moments in Pirates where I kinda even get scared. So I think it might take a while. I don’t know when, maybe until next year when she’s two.

[So you came in the fifth movie. As a real newcomer to this whole universe, do you ever feel like they valued your input as a newcomer, as an actor?]

Brenton Thwaites: You know, I think they did value my input as an actor. I think [everyone] really wanted to make it fresh and exciting [thing] they hadn’t done before. So Javier coming on board, myself, Kaya, and the two new directors who supported and encouraged this one.

My first day on the set, it had been pouring for months or weeks. But I had a scene where my character, Henry, is hiding behind a pillar, and he’s spying on Jack Sparrow, and I remember thinking, “Wow, what a perfect way to start the movie, and to see Jack Sparrow drinking rum in the middle of the street, and the whole parade of red soldiers trying to catch him.”

[We also asked him about the amazing visual effects that are such an important part of this movie.]

Brenton Thwaites: The visual effects side of things was, for this one, mostly kind of behind the actor’s consciousness. In Maleficent, it was a lot of work that we would have to do with our imaginations to, to kind of be specifically creating creatures that weren’t there. On Gods of Egypt, we did the same thing, but on Pirates, we were lucky because all of Javier’s makeup, all the ghosts were there. They looked fantastic. The sets were real. They had beautiful set pieces that allowed us to play and feel, like we were actually in the space.

[Then he shared with us what a typical day on set is like.]

Brenton Thwaites: I get picked up eight o’clock, get out of the house at seven; I run down for a quick surf. I get out of the work at eight; rush home; I’m half an hour late. So my driver speeds down the highway and risks our lives trying to get to work on time. And then I get made up and sit in the trailer for five hours, and then we start working.

[It took five hours for makeup?]

Brenton Thwaites: Just for, you know, the logistics, sets change, and everyday there was something crazy happening. For this one they just, they like to give the directors all the tools to play around with and so Javier would get, made up; Geoffrey would get in makeup, and we would all be ready in case they wanted to do some improvised shot or something. They could kinda use any actor at any time. So it was cool way of shooting, but it meant that I got better at [acting] very quickly.

[Did you bring your skateboard at all?]

Brenton Thwaites: No, I didn’t bring my skateboard on this one. I wish I did. We were mainly in rocky fields and the studio. There was a guy there – a swords master – Thomas DuPont, who had an electric skateboard, and I tried it once, and you could kind of sense the whole studio thinking, get Brenton off that skateboard.

[Brenton Thwaites also shared with us how he did 3 weeks of combat and sword fighting training to prepare for the role as well as getting training in British dialect and accents. He also shared a little more about working with Johnny Depp and how his method of acting kept Brenton and Kaya Scodelario laughing all the time. Then we asked him what it was that he hoped audiences would take away from the movie.]

Brenton Thwaites: I just hope they’re entertained, you know? It’s the kind of movie that never loses its drive and has so many action pieces, set pieces, comedic elements, romance, supernatural, there’s kind of something for everyone in this movie. So, I hope everyone takes something from it and connects with the characters.

Brenton Thwaites: We shot [in St Martin] for a good month and a half, and we shot in Northern New South Wales. And my favorite location was up on Hamilton Island, shooting out on the Great Barrier Reef. We had some days we shot at a beach called White Haven Beach which is beautiful. When you walk on the sand, it squeaks which is not so good for the sound, but it’s great for effect, and it looks beautiful, and I think we had the most fun right there.

Javier’s like a five year old kid. As soon as he finishes a scene, he strips off, like, jumps in the sea, playing, and like fighting in the sand. It was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.

*Thanks to Louise at MomStart.com for the epic pictures. 😉

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