Johnny Depp Pirates SHOCK: ‘Disney HATED my vision for Jack Sparrow, and wanted me FIRED’

The 55-year-old is best known for his eccentric pirate in the billion-dollar grossing franchise, but now he claims Disney weren’t originally on board with his portrayal of the iconic Captain Jack Sparrow.

Speaking with GQ in this month’s cover story, Depp certainly doesn’t mince his words.

He said: “The trouble with working with these big studios is they can get uncomfortable about certain creative decisions you make. That happened with Pirates. My view is if the studio isn’t worried then I’m not doing my job properly.

“Disney hated me. [They were] thinking of every way they could to get rid of me, to fire me. ‘Oh, we’re going to have to subtitle him.’ ‘We don’t understand Captain Jack Sparrow. What’s wrong with him?’ ‘What’s wrong with his arms?’ ‘Is he drunk?’ ‘Is he mentally f***ing stupefied?’ ‘Is he gay?’”

Depp continued: “I told them, ‘Look, you don’t like what I’m doing, fire me. You hired me to do a job and play the character and this is what I want to do.’ 

“This is the work. I mean, hadn’t they seen any of the work I’d done previously? You might want to take a look at that before you hire a motherf***er, you know?”

“I knew I was right. Even the very first time when they came back to me saying, ‘No, no, what is this?’ it felt right. 

“Even when the other actors were looking at me like I was an absolute menace, I stayed with it.”

He added: “I mean, the older actors were probably thinking, ‘Jesus Christ, he’s wrecked.’ 

“Because I would tear up the script on set. I’d go rogue. I’d fly for a little bit to see where things went. 

“And not everyone appreciates this way of working.”

Depp even revealed that his front fee for Pirates 5, a film which was released last year, was an astounding £35 million.

At this stage it’s not clear if Pirates of the Caribbean 6 will go ahead, but for now Depp has another film franchise to contend with in Harry Potter spin-off series Fantastic Beasts.

The star plays Gellert Grindelwald, a proto-Voldemort of sorts who Albus Dumbledore was deeply in love with.

Depp cameoed as the character in first Fantastic Beasts film two years ago and stars in The Crimes of Grindelwald next month.

He then has three more turns as the characters at least, climaxing in the fifth film in late 2024.