Thwaites (left) with Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge”
LOS ANGELES—Brenton Thwaites, who plays Henry Turner, the son of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley’s characters in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” (titled “Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge” in the Philippines), admitted being “terrified” when he did a table read with Johnny Depp for the first time.
But what Johnny, who of course plays beloved Captain Jack Sparrow, did surprised—and relaxed—Brenton.
Brenton is yet one more Aussie actor who’s making waves in Hollywood and on the international film scene. In fact, he also appeared (as Stu Henderson) in “Home and Away,” the Australian soap opera series where Chris Hemsworth, Isla Fisher and the late Heath Ledger, acted before they broke through in the United States.
At 27, Brenton could pass for a 17-year-old, because of his boyish face and his new, short haircut. He wore a modern take on the Hawaiian shirt, necklaces and jeans in our talk at the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel.
He could still play the Christopher Atkins’ role he tackled in his first American production, a TV remake of “Blue Lagoon” opposite fellow Aussie Indiana Evans, who portrayed the Brooke Shields part.
Brenton went on to appear in films, including “Oculus,” “Maleficent” (Prince Phillip), “The Giver” (opposite Meryl Streep) and “Gods of Egypt. ”
In the coming “An Interview with God,” the Queensland native delineates a journalist whose faith is challenged when he’s granted the interview of a lifetime—with a man (David Strathairn) who claims to be God. He will also be seen in “Ghosts of War.”
Brenton Thwaites —Ruben V. Nepales
Excerpts from our chat, where Brenton also talked about being a dad:
What surprised you about working with Johnny Depp? I first met Johnny in the table read. I was surprised to see him already so committed to his character. He had the elements of Jack Sparrow slowly come in. He did have a hairpiece and Sparrow’s teeth on. He slowly builds that character for months before filming.
I was surprised to see how off-script he was even in the read-through and how early on, he was trying things out, testing the waters and playing with us all. I was, of course, terrified in reading my lines like I was specific and word for word, not playing around in any way. It was cool to have those bounds dropped by Johnny. He created a relaxed, playful environment right from the table read.
Once you were on the set, did he encourage you to improv with him? He encourages that stuff in every take. The biggest thing that I learned was how committed he was to improvisation. There wasn’t anything that didn’t work.
You were involved in the search for the actress to play Carina Smyth, which eventually went to Kaya Scodelario. What was that experience like? I was given the opportunity to fly around the world, testing with different girls, seeing who had the most chemistry with me, and who was the strongest actress to play Carina.
How many girls tested with you? There were about five in America and 10 in England.
How did they test your chemistry with those actresses? We just read the scene and talked through ideas. It wasn’t like, hey, let’s go take a walk along some beach and find out if we love each other. It was more of a creative immersion.
What made Kaya stand out from the other actresses? She was funny. Our sense of humor clicked. Above everything else, that was one of the most important things, because our scenes are meant to be funny, even in the dire moments or when it is “action-y.” They’re supposed to be light and funny.
She also had strength and confidence that a lot of the other girls didn’t have. She committed to her moments.
Now that you’re a dad, what has been the biggest change? The greatest thing about being a dad is bringing your baby to the set (laughs), because you get these fantastic photos of you in these weird costumes with your baby. I can foresee myself in 10 to 20 years, looking back at the photo of me, covered in mud in my World War II outfit, and my daughter.
It’s exciting. It has changed me in the sense that everything’s more planned now. I was the kind of guy who would just roll with the flow. I traveled with a backpack and a guitar for years.
Having a kid is great because it forces me to think about my life, where I want to live and what kind of films I want to do. I rethink my goals.
Are you a hands-on dad? Do you change diapers? Of course, mate. We’re on the road. It’s just me, my partner (Chloe Pacey) and our baby, traveling around for the first year of her life. I do as much as I can.
When I’m working, it’s a little different because it’s so full-on doing a movie. But when I’m not, I spend as much time as I can with her.
What’s your daughter’s name? Birdie. She tweets all the time (laughs).
Is your girlfriend Chloe in show business, too? She’s not. But she definitely feels a part of it now because of me. She’s starting to be a naturopathist. And she’s a painter.
You mentioned having a guitar. Do you write songs? I’ve written a few very bad songs that I’ll probably never sing to anyone, except to my 14-month-old daughter. At the moment, songwriting isn’t my focus.
When did you realize you wanted to be an actor? The first moment that I thought, I’m good at this and I love acting was when I was onstage in “Romeo and Juliet” as part of a theater group. The group was led by a woman called Maggie Shepherd Smith. She was a fantastic teacher. I was 17.
She showed us the fun in what it’s like to be an actor. We played theater games. We competed with other schools in theater sports.
I read Shakespeare at school, and I wanted to burn every single Shakespeare book I’d ever read. But when I did “Romeo and Juliet,” I realized that Shakespeare is meant to be acted. It was written to be spoken.
How are you handling all the attention? Do you get recognized more often now? No, I’m a master of disguise. A chameleon. I haven’t been recognized in years. It might change after this one. But after every movie, my hair changes.