Johnny Depp found on-screen kiss with Keira Knightley 'unbelievably awkward' for one major reason
Johnny Depp has spoken out about the steamy kiss between Captain Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’, calling the experience incredibly “awkward.” In the 2006 movie, Elizabeth, portrayed by Keira Knightley, has one distracting moment where she kisses Jack and chains him to his ship. Visually, this scene looks amazing, but filming the scene was not as fun as it appears to be. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Depp admitted, “Kissing someone you are not romantically involved with is always awkward.” Despite the awkwardness, Depp praised his co-star’s professionalism. He said, “But the fact that Keira is 20-something years younger than me made it infinitely more awkward. Still, she was a good sport about it and we did what we had to do.”
Adding to the discomfort was the fact that Depp reportedly first met Knightley when she was only 17 years old, which made the dynamic feel even stranger. Talking to TMZ, he said, “Any kind of scene like that whenever you’re doing that sort of thing, it’s always unbelievably awkward especially having met Keira when she was 17 years old.” He further added, “But regardless of that it’s always awkward so you kind of just making light of it; she was a good sport and we just kind of did what we had to do, that’s the gig.”
Oddly enough, Knightley had a completely different take on the scene. The ‘Pride & Prejudice’ star once said she was looking forward to working with Depp and Orlando Bloom and described the smooch as “fantastic.” She jokingly said, “What more can a girl ask for? I’ve got Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, and I get to kiss both of them. It’s wonderful,” she told TMZ. Though the kiss may have been awkward for Depp, it became one of those fan-favorite moments in the franchise, which sparked debates over whether Elizabeth Swann belonged with Jack Sparrow or Will Turner.
Meanwhile, Depp has had a ton of onscreen kisses throughout his career, but one of them turned out to be so awkward it didn’t even make the final cut. In the 2009 film ‘Public Enemies’, Depp starred with actress Carey Mulligan, one of his love interests in the film. Mulligan, already an up-and-coming star at the time, was very excited to act alongside her idol. Of course, this excitement made things slightly complicated when it came time to film a kiss between her and Depp. Mulligan revealed she had to give so many kisses to Depp for the movie, but was so nervous, it reflected on camera.
“I grew up watching everything he’s ever done and it’s difficult as I have to hide my inner fan when I am around him – it’s terrible,” she said once on 'The Graham Murton' show. “I had to kiss him several times. It was 16 times, but it was cut out of the film because I looked so uncomfortable,” she added. But not everyone else who kissed him felt that way. Marion Cotillard also appeared in the same film, also kissing Depp at various times. She was complimentary to the actor and referred to him as “a very, very good kisser.” In an interview with Irish Examiner, she admitted, “Johnny Depp is a very, very nice guy. I was very nervous but he was very protective of me and if you really want to know, he is a very, very good kisser.”
She is not the only co-star who had awkwardness in kissing Depp because of a crush. Eva Mendes worked with him on ‘Once Upon a Time in Mexico’ and admitted she was intimidated but kind of wished the scene would go on longer. “All of my screen kisses were the best, though I regret not kissing Johnny Depp for longer. I was so intimidated by him. It was the first time I had worked with an actor who I had crushed on as a little girl,” Eva said, as per Digital Spy. Though Mulligan’s nerves might have prevented her scene from making it onto the big screen, one thing is for sure: Depp certainly leaves an impression on his co-stars, one way or another.