Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow saw the actor nominated for both Best Actor at the Oscars and Worst Actor at the Razzies, but how did the Pirates of the Caribbean character end up becoming such a divisive figure? When The Curse of the Black Pearl arrived in cinemas in 2003, few critics expected the movie to generate much in the way of Oscar buzz. While highly anticipated, the Pirates of the Caribbean movie was a big-budget blockbuster adaptation of a theme park ride and thus not the sort of project that would typically earn much in the way of awards.
However, few critics could have anticipated the immediate cultural impact made by Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. An irreplaceable role, Jack Sparrow was a rare part that managed to marry Depp’s enduring counter-cultural appeal to mainstream movie stardom without dulling his offbeat edge. Jack Sparrow was a genuinely original, campy, and charming creation elevated by Depp’s pitch-perfect take on the character, and as a result, the actor’s nomination for Best Actor at the 2003 Oscars made sense.
However, as if to illustrate the declining popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Depp was later nominated for a Worst Actor Razzie for the same role. The actor was a nominee for Best Actor in 2003 for The Curse of the Black Pearl—he lost to Sean Penn in Mystic River—but 14 years later was nominated for Worst Actor for the Dead Man ensured he had major credibility.
However, outside of an early role in The Lone Ranger.
It was the last in particular that spelled trouble for Depp, as it flopped despite reuniting him with The Curse of the Black Pearl director Gore Verbinski. From there on out, Depp’s critical fortunes were increasingly worse with releases such as Mortdecai. By the time Dead Men Tell No Tales was released, Depp’s time as a leading man was limited and critics had turned on the quirky star, resulting in his Worst Actor nod in 2017. Thus, while Jack Sparrow receiving both a Worst Actor and Best Actor nod may seem shocking, the career trajectory of the Pirates of the Caribbean character’s actor makes sense of the mystery.
