Orlando Bloom on ‘Pirates’ Return: ‘Never Say Never’

Orlando Bloom hasn’t closed the door on returning to the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

The 48-year-old actor starred opposite Johnny Depp, 61, and Keira Knightley, 39, in Disney’s swashbuckling franchise as Will Turner from 2003’s The Curse of the Black Pearl to At World’s End in 2007, and has now revealed he is open to reprising his role in a future film.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bloom said: “Listen, it was a wild and fun experience so, you know, never say never. I have a lot of respect for that experience, and [producer] Jerry [Bruckheimer], and the whole thing. But who knows?

“I mean, it’s sort of one of those things I really haven’t thought about it, really. I’m happy that I got to be a part of something that feels like it’s standing the test of time, which is cool.”

Previously, Bloom’s co-star Knightley said appearing in the Pirates of the Caribbean series had had a detrimental effect on her career, and so would never make a franchise movie again.

While Bloom can understand his co-star’s perspective, the actor, who had a cameo at the end of 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, said he would always be “grateful” for the time he spent working on the Pirates of the Caribbean series, and added he had “a lot of positive takeaways” from his experience making those films.

He continued: “It was such a huge moment in time that is almost like … it feels almost like another lifetime now. But it certainly was unique and, you know, I’m always grateful. But I definitely understand where Keira was coming from, and she does wonderful things … I have a lot of positive takeaways.”

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Knightley, who played Bloom’s love interest Elizabeth Swan in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, had cited the franchise as “the reason that [she] was taken down publicly” by critics, but admitted it had also given her the platform to star in movies that earned her Oscar nominations, like 2005’s Pride and Prejudice.

She explained to the The Times newspaper: “It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time.”

“I was seen as s— because of them, and yet because they did so well I was given the opportunity to do the films that I ended up getting Oscar nominations for … they were the most successful films I’ll ever be a part of, and they were the reason that I was taken down publicly. So they’re a very confused place in my head.”

While Knightley and Bloom’s Pirates of the Caribbean’s future is uncertain, it was previously reported Depp may be making a comeback to the series.

The actor was dropped by Disney after his ex-wife Amber Heard accused him of spousal abuse in 2018, for which he was later cleared in court, though Variety reported last month that the studio was considering bringing Depp back for another movie.

At the time, the outlet claimed Disney had not yet approached the Edward Scissorhands star about possibly returning to the franchise, but had commissioned Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer to develop two different scripts with and without Depp depending on if the studio can reconcile with the actor.

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