I don't think you see a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder, for example. And even with the accents.

[Pirates] are a victim of their own success. People have identified with pirates in a comic and caricature sense.

Hence the genius of having Ken steer this ship as well. You have to invest these characters with a Shakespearian quality and not in a way that might disengage the audience but in a way that actually lets you play to an audience.

I didn't want people to go out wanting to go tool up against the bad guys (and at impressionable ages). I said, don't shy away from the violence or pull back on this, commit to this.

Life itself is pretty funny when you realize how absurd it can be.

Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, 'I'm a bad guy.' They think they're the right guy.

I consider it an actor going to work with other actors. It's not a competitive sport, it's not to outact anybody else, sorta thing, you can be a bad actor but you don't outact anybody, you just bring your character as best as you can.