Sam Claflin Talks Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

by Helen Earnshaw | 19 September 2011

Sam Claflin made the lead from TV, where he has enjoyed success with United, Pillars of the Earth and Any Human Heart, to the big budget blockbuster as he starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

The movie was a massive box office success as it went on to gross over $1billion worldwide - not bad for your first movie.

For the release of the film on DVD & Blu-Ray I caught up with the actor to talk about his experience on the movie and what lies ahead.

- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has just been released on DVD so for anyone who hasn't seen it yet can you tell me a little bit about the movie?

I suppose it’s just about Jack Sparrow and Blackbeard’s quest for The Fountain of Youth - there are three different teams on the same quest; Jack Sparrow is leading Blackbeard’s group, the English naval office of Barbosa and there is the Spanish fleet. So it’s a race for eternal youth.

- You take on the character of Philip in the movie so what was it about the character and the script that made you want to take on the project?

I think that it said Pirates of the Caribbean in the title and I was such a big fan of the pervious three films so having the chance to be a part of it was dream come true - let alone getting to kiss a mermaid and having a scene with Penelope Cruz.

So I was very lucky and I am very thankful to the people who made it all happen. It’s a dream part really because he is an honourable and righteous man - he is a goody.

- So what was you reaction when you were told that you had got the part?

I screamed a lot! I was kind of speechless to begin with , it was director Rob Marshall who called me initially and said ‘congratulations you have got the part’ to which I was so shell shocked I didn’t answer him for a while.

And he said ‘look don’t answer just go and call your mum’ so I called my mum and dad and they were very overwhelmed and happy and surprised - my mum said ‘oh that’s a shock so I don’t think she had much confidence in me. But all my friends and family have been very supportive; I think everyone was more excited than I was.

- Obviously Pirates was already hugely popular so how did you find stepping into an already established franchise? And how was the whole big budget movie experience?

I had never experienced anything like that before so, for me, the whole experience as a whole was overwhelming and inspiration and enchanting - some of the sets and location that we shot were probably some of the most beautiful places on earth.

So for me to have experienced that alongside Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane and Geoffrey Rush - in fact seeing everyone dressed up as pirates in those locations was probably more bizarre.

But there were so many times that I had to pinch myself and ask ‘is this really happening?’

- Well you have touched on my next question really what was it like seeing Johnny Depp in full Jack Sparrow costume for the first time?

I will never forget the day, I will never forget it. We were in the jungles of Hawaii with the sun beaming down and me and all the other pirates on Blackbeard’s crew were just all sitting down on logs in the middle of the jungle and all of a sudden Johnny Depp walked on in Jack Sparrow gear and started doing his impression.

All of a sudden you are watching him live and it’s one of the other pinch me moments it has to be said. He is a very down to earth guy, he is cool as cucumber and he made me feel very at home - watching someone like that is something that will never leave my mind.

- How much work did you have to go with green screen - how familiar and comfortable were you with that?

I didn’t have personally too much to do with green screen - the majority of the mermaid battle was done with a big green screen in the background but I didn’t have to pretend that there was any green screen monsters coming at me; all the mermaids were real people who had swimsuits on with dots on them.

I always felt that there was some presence, as opposed to me pretending and acting that I was getting hurt when I wasn’t, I was lucky to always have someone guiding me along. So it was never too hard for me personally.

- Rob Marshall is also new to the franchise in this movie so how did you find him as a filmmaker?

Great. I think from every actor’s perspective… and I think I speak for every actor involved in Pirates of the Caribbean he really gave us a lot of time and spent a lot of time getting his hands dirty and really getting to grips with how the actors were doing, what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go with our character.

Right from the get go, like I mention earlier, when he called me to tell me I had the part he said ‘don’t worry I haven’t done anything this big either so we are both in the same boat’.

So I think I had that confidence to go up to him about a problem - he was very approachable and hugely passionate about the project; which was nice to see. So he definitely helped me a long the way so hats off to him and a big thank you really.

- And the film sees you reunite with Ian McShane after working together on Pillars of the Earth so how comforting was it to have someone you knew around?

He was the first person that I saw when I got off the plane (laughs). I was walking through the corridors of the hotel with all of my suitcases and I just saw him with a big beard and long hair, that took me aback, but he just said ‘hello darling’ in his raspy voice and gave me the biggest hug.

So he really sort of took me under his wing and helped me a long the way. We did a read through with all of the cast and crew watching and it was coming up to my first line and he just patted me on the back and leaned in and said ‘you will be fine’.

He really really helped me - I am going to be working with him again so it will be three summers in a row.

- I was watching some of the extras on the DVD last night and it looked like and really fun set to be on?

Yeah, all I can say is that I wish you had been there to see it in person. It’s one of those sets that every actor strives to have with every production that they are involved in.

We were a proper little family unit; the amount of time that the cast went out for dinner when we were in Hawaii, we would hang out during the day and I would babysit some of the other actors’ kids if they wanted to go out with their wives.

Everyone got on really well and were lucky to have a very close knit community feel to the set.

- What have to taken away from your experience on this movie to help in future projects?

I suppose it was a bit of advice that Johnny Depp himself gave to me… my parents came to see me on set and he took time out of his lunch break to come and meet my parents.

And my dad did that horrible horrible dad moment, one of those jokes that you can’t help but cringe at, he said ’so Johnny what’s it like being assistant to my son?’ But he just turned to me and said ’as long as you stay grounded you will be fine.’

So I kind of took that as the most notable piece of advice - and it’s something that I am strongly trying to keep close to my heart in the future.

- Recently you have work on TV series such as Any Human Heart and The Pillars of the Earth so how was the transition into film? How do the two mediums compare or differ?

It’s so different! Between Pirates and I am now doing Snow White I have done two little TV dramas and the pace is just so different - also the amount of people around; the were a re few hundred people watching when we were at Pinewood Studios shooting Pirates but when you are working on TV there are about three people.

But I like being kept on my toes and being challenged with both genres is a dream really and not getting use to doing one or the other I feel it’s important to have best of both worlds.

- You are also going to be starring in Snow White and the Huntsman so can you tell me a little bit about that?

The problem is I am not too sure how much I can tell (laughs) no one has really warned me. What I can say is it is a darker telling of the tale with some new characters added to it and they are all different to how you may imagine them from the Disney version for example. So it’s very different so it’s nice and refreshing I feel.

But also, because I am playing Prince Charming, all I can say is the characters are very very different - there was a moment when they were quite similar and I felt like I was just playing Philip in another film but they have changed him a little to make him different; so it’s nice to have the challenge of a new character and being surrounded by new people.

- Finally what's next for you?

Well it’s Snow White at the moment, I’m going to be in the middle of that until December, and after that my options are open - I have a few things that I’m toying with the idea of but nothing is set in stone.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tide is out on DVD & Blu-Ray now

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw