Jacob Elordi Was in One of the Most Expensive Movies Ever Made, but You Won’t Be Able To Find Him

The transformation that Jacob Elordi’s career has made within a relatively short window is nothing less than remarkable. Although he first gained traction as a heartthrob in The Kissing Booth, Elordi soon proved himself as a serious actor, and now is a threat to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Frankenstein. Elordi hasn’t been working long enough for many of his early roles to be obscure, as it was only shortly after The Kissing Both that he gained an even more significant audience based on his work in Euphoria. However, Elordi had his first screen role in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, despite the fact that he didn’t even get his name featured in the credits.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was the fifth and most recent film in the franchise, and featured the return of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) after he’s sought out by Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), the son of Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley). While not quite as costly as its two predecessors, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was still a wildly expensive movie, partially because the franchise has always put a priority on building real sets and casting large groups of extras. It was within one of these open calls for extras that got Elordi his first gig as a redcoat; while it’s nearly impossible to spot him in the film, Elordi said that making the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel was “one of the best things I’ve ever done in my entire life.”

While it featured some of the goofiest moments in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was a return to form for the franchise because it was more focused on the Turner family with Sparrow as a supporting character; similar to the way that Sparrow had been a background player to Will and Elizabeth in the first three films, Depp was in the fifth film as the mentor to Henry and his love interest Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), who is revealed to be the daughter of his former rival Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). The scene in which Elordi reportedly appears occurs early on in the film when Sparrow is trying to escape from the British Navy on Saint Martin, as he once again attracts the interests of the government because of his many crimes. It was a callback to a similar chase in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where he is first introduced to Elizabeth and trades blows with Will for the first time. The irony is that in the fifth film, Henry is well-aware of who Sparrow is and what knowledge he is, despite the fact that the aging pirate claims to have no memory of Will and Elizabeth.

Although the franchise has often attracted criticisms for being bloated and overlong, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales certainly put its budget to good use because of how creative the action scenes are. Compared to many other blockbusters that use computer-generated imagery and green screens so frequently that nothing feels real, all of the films in the Pirates of the Caribbean series have a tactility to them that serves as a reminder of what makes Jerry Bruckheimer such an important producer. While it may have been easier to cut costs at create a digital army of redcoats, employing extras Elordi to dress up and run around made the film feel all the more kinetic.

Elordi Had a Great Experience Making ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’

While it’s a much better film than some critics gave it credit for being, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales didn’t end up sparking a revival for the franchise, even though it featured a post-credit scene that teased the return of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). The film’s $796 gross was nothing to be ashamed of, but it may have been considered to be a minor disappointment when compared to its direct predecessor, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which had made more than $1 billion globally. Based on the more mixed reception that the two films received, an immediate follow-up was not announced, as movement on a potential new sequel and spinoff have only emerged more recently. While reports of a sequel involving Depp and an all-female spinoff have been discussed, a firm date has not been set for when the next Pirates of the Caribbean film would go into production.

Elordi’s fond memory of making the film is interesting because he has generally stayed away from big-budget blockbusters in the aftermath; prior to Frankenstein, Elordi had earned his best reviews for smaller, arthouse titles like Priscilla and Saltburn. However, the fact that he seemed to have such a great time means that it wouldn’t be impossible for Elordi to star in a future Pirates of the Caribbean film because it would be easy to cast him as a different character, and his Wuthering Heights co-star Margot Robbie has been rumored to star. Disney is certainly in a position where it will want to have as many live-action franchises running as possible, especially given the dip in interest for the newest Star Wars and Marvel projects. Whether audiences will care about a new Pirates of the Caribbean sequel is unclear, but Elordi’s involvement might be enough to spark some interest.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

Release Date

May 26, 2017

Runtime

2h 9m