In Hollywood, if you want to become a better, more outstanding, and more successful person, empty talk is useless; the best way is to produce results.
As a relatively pure commercial film star, there is no better place to prove oneself than at the box office.
After finishing the interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Matthew stopped worrying about how Walt Disney Pictures and Helen Herman would coordinate the promotion and devoted himself entirely to the filming of pirates of the caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Although the script has not yet been truly finalized, the two pirates of the caribbean sequels have followed Jerry Bruckheimer's usual tradition. Preparations such as building sets and making warship models have been underway since May or June of last year. At Disney Studios, besides Soundstage 1 used for auditions, Soundstages 2 through 8 have all been requisitioned by the pirates of the caribbean Crew and set up as filming locations.
In Soundstage 2, Matthew finished his makeup, took an aluminum alloy rapier, and brought Bella Anderson, who was carrying a tool kit, into the filming site.
The first scene filmed for pirates of the caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was for Johnny Depp's Captain. When Matthew arrived, Depp was still filming, so he simply stood to the side and watched.
In front of the camera lens, Depp was as graceful and eye-catching as during the last shoot.
After the filming of the first movie ended, Johnny Depp once told Matthew that in shaping Captain Jack Sparrow, he combined certain commonalities between rock singer Keith Richards and the famous cartoon character with a French accent, the skunk "Pepe Le Pew": an unsettled life, wild personality, doing whatever he wants, contradictory and chaotic... At this moment, standing outside the set and looking over, even amidst a sea of green screens, Captain Jack Sparrow still possessed a beautiful and lazy confidence.
In Depp's words back then, the heavy eyeshadow on the eyes and the strings of beads in the hair were all symbols of "freedom"—the word "pirate" in Depp's heart represented "absolute freedom," feeling like an 18th-century rock star.
Thus, his interpretation of Captain Jack became a shrewd adventurer with a relaxed, happy, and unceasingly smooth tone, speaking feminine and cunning sweet talk like a woman, and walking with a swaying wind.
"Stop!" Director Gore Verbinski's voice rang out. "Passed!"
He then shouted, "Prepare for the next scene, Matthew, get ready."
The makeup artist immediately came over and checked Matthew's look. Seeing no problems, they gestured to the director's side. Matthew, with his rapier at his side, walked onto the filming set.
He and Depp nodded to each other in greeting, then the Action Director and Gore Verbinski both walked over, each giving instructions on things to note during the shoot.
This was an action scene, still a one-on-one between the blacksmith and the captain.
In terms of action design, Gore Verbinski continued the style of the curse of the black pearl. Jack Sparrow's movements were still primarily cunning and slippery, while Matthew maintained a brave and agile style.
In other words, in a head-on fight, Jack Sparrow was no match for Will Turner.
With the success of the first film, it was inevitable that the second would continue the same patterns; it was also the guarantee of success for a sequel.
In this typical Disney children-oriented entertainment movie, from the producer to the director to the actors, no one pursued artistic effects; what they pursued was how to please the audience.
When the curse of the black pearl was released, Walt Disney Pictures conducted extensive surveys. Captain Jack Sparrow's popularity came from his image, personality, and wisdom. Will Turner's popularity came from his strong body, resolute character, wild appearance, and agile movements.
Therefore, in the two sequels, the strengths of the two characters would continue to be magnified.
Matthew and Johnny Depp first familiarized themselves with the positioning under the guidance of the Action Director. Once they were ready, filming began.
Amidst a sea of green screens,
Matthew, with his rapier at his side, walked toward Johnny Depp.
"Oh..." Captain Jack Sparrow came forward to meet him, pinching his fingers in a standard orchid gesture, and said, "Will, you're still so handsome."
Matthew drew his rapier, pointed it at Johnny Depp, and said directly, "Jack, if I kill you, I'll be the captain of the black pearl, right?"
"is that so?" Johnny Depp took a step back, drew his pirate cutlass, and struck an opening pose. "You still want to challenge me to a duel?"
Matthew also struck an opening pose. "You're no match for me, Jack."
He was tall and strong, majestic and awe-inspiring; Johnny Depp was feminine and cunning, full of alluring charm.
Even just standing there, the two formed a sharp contrast.
"Jack, I'm making my move," Matthew warned intentionally. "Hold onto your cutlass."
Johnny Depp said affectedly, "You think I'll let you flick my sword away again..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Matthew struck like lightning. The rapier hit Johnny Depp's cutlass heavily, and the cutlass immediately flew out of his hand.
While Johnny Depp was still stunned, the rapier in Matthew's hand was already pointed at his throat.
"Ha..." Matthew used a famous line from the first movie, "I've caught the great Captain Jack Sparrow."
Johnny Depp cooperated by first raising his hands, then extending one finger to carefully push the rapier away, announcing, "Alright, now you're the captain of the black pearl."
Gore Verbinski nodded with satisfaction and shouted loudly, "Cut! This take is a pass!" Then he reminded them, "Matthew, Depp, keep up the good state."
The film had just started shooting, and Matthew and Johnny Depp's states were adjusted very well.
On the set, Johnny Depp shook his hand and complained to Matthew, "I wasn't ready yet when you struck. Were you planning to break my wrist?"
Matthew sheathed his rapier and said, "Depp, your strength is getting weaker and weaker."
Johnny Depp said as if it were only natural, "Because I'm several years older than I was during the last shoot." He walked over to Matthew, intentionally slapped Matthew's shoulder hard, and said in a pinched voice, "You're acting opposite an old man now; you need to hold back a bit."
Matthew reached out to support one of his arms and said, "Old Mr. Depp, let me help you off the set."
Johnny Depp wasn't one to be polite with Matthew. His body went limp, leaning half-weight on him as if he had really become an old pirate who couldn't walk, and Matthew supported him as they left the set together.
At the rest area, Matthew noticed that Keira Knightley had also arrived after finishing her makeup and waved to her. "Hi, Keira."
Keira Knightley looked curiously at Matthew and Depp and asked, "What's wrong with Depp?"
Matthew shrugged. "Just now, I was possessed by Superman and shattered half of Depp's skeleton with one strike. He's disabled now."
Johnny Depp gave Matthew a push, stood up straight, and said, "Matthew, you need to remember you're an adult. Stop reading those childish comic books."
He spoke with an air of seniority, and Matthew and Keira Knightley couldn't help but laugh.
Just like during the last shoot, Depp, Matthew, and Keira Knightley formed the highest-end three-person team in the Crew. When not filming, they would huddle together, either discussing upcoming scenes or chatting and bragging while critiquing the oddly-shaped extras on set.
The benefits of this had already become apparent during the filming of the curse of the black pearl; the three of them could always achieve an indescribable rapport during filming.
While the three of them sat there, filming on set continued. A group of uniquely-featured extras began a chaotic battle with the British army in front of the cameras on the green screen set.
The rest area was quite far away, and as long as the three kept their voices low, it wouldn't affect the filming.
Johnny Depp looked toward the set and suddenly remembered something, asking, "Matthew, how old are you this year?"
Matthew didn't know why he was asking and replied casually, "I'm from 1980."
"Twenty-five years old, huh." Johnny Depp suddenly sighed and said, "Have you ever thought about what you'll do when you're like me, your physical functions have declined, and you can't fight anymore?"
Keira Knightley also became interested and chimed in, "When the time comes, he can just switch to making art films."
"That's still a long way off." Matthew wasn't worried at all. "Schwarzenegger was still filming Terminator 2 and True Lies in his forties. Isn't that the best age range for a male actor?"
He pointed at the stunt doubles. "When the day really comes that I can't fight anymore, I'll just sell my face in front of the camera. Anyway, I can use doubles for action scenes."
Keira Knightley rolled her eyes, snorted, and said, "You really have no ambition."
Matthew first shrugged and then spread his hands, saying, "Dear Keira, you know my life goals and ideals better than anyone; we've talked about them late into the night many times."
Keira Knightley instantly remembered the time they lived together, turned her head away, and couldn't be bothered to talk to Matthew anymore.
Johnny Depp seemed to understand Matthew's thoughts and said, "Everyone has different pursuits; that's normal."
On the set, the messy group scenes were filmed for half the morning. Around 10:30, Matthew, Depp, and Keira Knightley entered the set together to begin filming the scenes involving the three main leads.
In this sequel, there weren't too many scenes where all three appeared together. Because internal power struggles at Walt Disney had delayed the Crew's preparations, and pirates of the caribbean had already been announced for a July release next year, Gore Verbinski adjusted the filming schedule to finish the scenes for the second part, Dead Man's Chest, before filming At World's End.
Over the following three weeks, the Crew remained at Disney Studios for filming, waiting until July to move to Bataka Island in Dominica for location shoots.
Before going to Dominica, Matthew had two things to resolve outside of filming.