The following interview was conducted by Jessica Livingston, Associate Editor of Know Your World-Extra Magazine.
Ahoy there, matey! It's that time again--the pirates are back! Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sails into theaters tonight! When we last left the crew, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) was at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker. But the real shocker was that Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is back among the living! Weekly Reader recently caught up with Rush and found out all the dirty details (and we do mean dirty! Haven't pirates ever heard of soap?) about the new film. We'll bet all our pieces of eight that you won't want to miss this!
WORD: How is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End different from the other Pirates movies?
Rush: The first movie was mostly about the curse on Barbossa and all of his pirate gang. In Pirates 2, the introduction of Davy Jones brings a much greater supernatural/mythological feel to the story. In the third film all of the numerous story lines that have been established really start to clash. Questions such as "Is Jack Sparrow able to survive the power of the Kraken?" or "How did Barbossa come back from the dead? Who helped him? Why?" and "Does Elizabeth feel guilty for betraying Jack?" ... Well, all of these crucial issues find surprising solutions.
WORD: I read that in this movie, it has been said that "piracy is at stake." What does this mean?
Rush: The pirates from all over the world--whether they are from England or the Caribbean or Africa or Asia--they are being stamped out and executed by the East India Trading Company, which is like a corporation that wants to control the seas for their own profits. This is more or less what happened in history. The great age of piracy only lasted from the mid-1600s until the early 1700s.
WORD: Everyone in the Pirates movies seems to be "bad guys"--pirates, thieves, traitors, etc. Yet pirates have a huge appeal. Pirate costumes were even the most popular costume this Halloween. What do you think the appeal is of being a pirate?
Rush: In their day, a lot of the pirates were probably adventurers and sailors who had a criminal past. They might also have come from impoverished backgrounds or situations where their chances for success in society were minimal. At sea they were free from the laws of any country. It was a tough and violent life, but perhaps being a pirate gave them a sense of freedom, and they could create their own memorable identity. I think this is why people admire them and dress up like them at Halloween or for parties. Books like Treasure Island and plays like Peter Pan made the pirate life seem very attractive and adventurous.
WORD: Did you feel a lot of pressure making this movie, knowing how popular the first two Pirates were and how much money they made?
Rush: We all knew the first movie told a very fresh and exciting story, but because it was such a huge runaway hit that meant the next two films had to be really good. And the writers and the producer and the director were determined to make them great. They liked the characters as much as the audience did and they wanted to create a memorable and worthwhile epic. Parts 1 and 2 are like one big movie with an intermission. Pirates 3 has bigger and better stuff in it. It really goes right off the edge of the map.
WORD: Did you do your own stunts in this movie?
Rush: I worked very hard on my sword fights. I had to prove to the audience, as the oldest pirate, why he was still the meanest leader around. Which meant he had to be deadly with a sword--and fight dirty and unfair--just to survive. All of the actors, of course, have stunt doubles because sometimes in the big wide shots with dozens of pirates fighting at full speed, it is too dangerous for the actors. When you watch the film on DVD, see if you can pick when and why the doubles might have been used.
WORD: Is this the most challenging movie you've ever been in? Why?
Rush: Some movies are challenging even if they are relatively small in budget and focused on few characters because there may be complicated emotional story lines that the actors have to make very truthful and honest and interesting. A film like Pirates also offers a challenge because of the size of the budget and the scale of the production. Sometimes I would be filming complicated sequences with lots of dialogue, on a badly rocking ship 30 miles out to sea, with a monkey on my shoulders and its trainer always yelling out instructions to it, or with cannons going off and debris and smoke going everywhere. So I suppose it has been the most challenging, but that has also made it the most fun and the most memorable. We have been together as a team for over 4 years now, so it's been a big part of our lives.
WORD: Growing up, were you a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland? Was it exciting when they redesigned the ride to have characters from the movies?
Rush: I only got to go to Disneyland with my two kids about eight years ago when I first went to America, but I knew about the ride because we used to watch the Mickey Mouse Club on TV when I was little. It is a great honor for me, and kind of crazy, to know that Barbossa is now in the ride as a fixture. I hope to take my grandchildren to see it, even though I don't have any yet.
WORD: Were you always a fan of pirate and adventure movies? What do you like about them?
Rush: I've always loved sword fighting movies. My favorite is Scaramouche, which isn't about pirates, but I recommend that you check it out. It is a very old movie, but it has one of the longest sword fights in the history of movies set in a theater, and the actors are really doing it--all of it. Adventure movies like Indiana Jones and Zorro are great, particularly when there is a blend of action and humor.
WORD: In a summer full of sequels, why see Pirates?
Rush: There are seven and a half hours now in the trilogy. It is a big work. It has many significant principal characters, as well as a gallery of very popular minor ones. Also the plot is full of many details about the period, the attitudes and the conditions, and hopefully it is unpredictable and full of surprises. The main characters are forced to make very important decisions about what they truly believe in. So as well as being fun, I hope people try and imagine what they would do in the same circumstances. I know just from reading chat rooms and fan web sites how involved and perceptive the audience is.
WORD: What was your favorite part about filming this movie? What was your least favorite part?
Rush: My favorite part was the sword fighting rehearsals and then being able to visit many different parts of the Caribbean, which is so far away from Melbourne, Australia, where I live. My least favorite part was when the monkey would get anxious or frightened and shriek. I was scared he was going to bite my nose.
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