Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow’s "Drunk" Walk Is Secretly Genius – Screen Rant

Jack Sparrow's signature "drunk" walk, which gives him the appearance of being constantly inebriated, is actually the result of Sparrow's sea legs.

Within thePirates of the Caribbean franchise, Jack Sparrows (Johnny Depp) signature off-kilter walk earnshim the reputation of being constantly inebriated, but Sparrows drunk swagger has an ingenious secret that doesnt involve a single drop of rum. While Sparrow often refers torumthroughout the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as if its both hisaddiction and a secret weapon that allows him to pull off potvaliant stunts and schemes, the unbalanced walk is actually more telling of another great love of his: the sea.

Thoughits hard to imagine Jack Sparrow being any different from the charming and disreputable anti-hero that is the center of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, a lot of Sparrows eccentricity is owed to Johnny Depps interpretation of the character, who was alternativelywritten as a swashbuckling hero in the original script for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In an interview with Collider, Depp details some of his early insights about Captain Jack, which he concocted while sitting in a sauna. After experiencing extreme heat within the sauna, Depp had the idea that Sparrows brain would be par-boiled after baking in the sun all day onboard a ship, inspiring Sparrow's mad yet brilliantpersona. Just as being out on the open ocean would affect Sparrows mental state, Depp also decided that the days Sparrow spent at sea would affect his body language as well.

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While its initially assumed that Sparrows off-kilter and quirky walk is the result of excessive drinking, its actually the product of his sea legs - the capacity to balance and not get seasick when sailing. Since Sparrow spends more of his time being tussled by the waves on board a moving ship, hes not accustomedto walking on dry land, and is therefore ironically unbalanced when on solid ground.However,Sparrows sea legs are exaggerated to an almost preternatural level, since Sparrow walks perfectly straight when on board a moving ship and only acquires his signaturedrunk walk when hes walking on dry land. Not only is the drunk walk completely realistic, since sailors themselves similarly earned a reputation for being drunks due to their sea legs, but Sparrows walk acts as an indicator of where he truly belongs: on the high seas.

Jack Sparrows sea legs also reinforce his eccentric and unpredictable personality. Throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Jacks character consistently thrives by being different from the norm. Sparrows compass doesnt point north; he talks nonsense in circles in a way that strangely makes sense. Having Sparrow be unable to walk a straight path on land, and yet be perfectly balanced at sea, is a rather poetic way of highlighting yet another aspect of Sparrow that shows the normal rules of everyday life dont apply to him.

While Sparrows time at sea couldve naturally given him sea legs, theres also the possibility that the walk itself is a cunning plan devised by Sparrow to manipulate other peoples perspective of him by playing up his reputation as a drunken, half-witted selfish pirate. Sparrows escapades are often successful because he is underestimated by his peers. After teaming up with William Turner (Orlando Bloom) in The Curse of the Black Pearl, Sparrow successfully commandeers the fastest ship in the British Royal Navy, The Interceptor, by subverting Commodore Norringtons (Jack Davenport) expectations of him as the worst pirate hes ever seen. Despite the fact that Sparrow wanted to commandThe Flying Dutchman himself, Sparrow also defeats Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) in one fell swoop in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End by choosing to help a fatally wounded Will stab Davy Jones heart and live on asthe next captain of The Flying Dutchman instead of acting in his own best interest.

Since Jack Sparrow already presents himself as scatter-brained and somewhattouched in the head throughout the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the drunk walk may be an additional clever ploy that minimizes his ability in the eyes of his enemies, therefore giving him the upper hand.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow's "Drunk" Walk Is Secretly Genius - Screen Rant