STACK #155 Sep 2017

DVD&BD FEATURE

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British beauty Kaya Scodelario is poised to take over from Keira Knightley at the helm of a newly- invigorated Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, thanks to her feisty performance in the fifth instalment of the blockbuster series. Words Gill Pringle

Kaya Scodelario with Johnny Depp

• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is out Sept 13

A t only 25 years old, Kaya Scodelario already has impeccable credentials, having won her first big break aged 14 featuring in popular Brit TV series Skins , and then going on to star in the young adult Maze Runner series. While Keira Knightley’s own reign in the Pirates movies is far from over – plot spoiler here, folks – it’s Scodelario’s lively performance as Carina Smyth alongside Brenton Thwaites’ Henry Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales that signals a youthful reboot of the 13-year-old franchise. Meeting with Scodelario in LA, she talks about spending six months filming Dead Men... in Australia alongside Oscar winners Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem and Geoffrey Rush. “It was amazing when you looked around the set, thinking ‘Oh, three Oscars…’ it’s crazy,” recalls the actress. “But there were other actors I was even more excited to work with, like Stephen Graham who plays one of the pirates, who’s one of my favourite British actors of all time. It was a real honour to get on set with him. Every day was like a lesson in acting; like going to the best drama school ever for six months – and it happened to be on the beach.”

luxuries that entails. “Before this, I’d done at least ten indie movies in England. I’ve filmed in some real sh-tholes in the world; I’ve been in a muddy field for hours on end with no trailer and no coat – and I love all of that. But I try and treat every job with the exact same level of respect – it doesn’t matter what the budget is or who the lead actor is – you should have the same focus and the same drive and have as much empathy for your character and understanding of them as you would no matter what. “But on something like this the food is so much better – the food is unbelievable on a movie like this. The first time I ever saw craft services was on Clash of the Titans with my friend Nicholas Hoult who tricked me and said, ‘Do you have your wallet? You need to pay for that food.’ And I freaked out thinking, ‘Oh my God, I don’t have any money, what am I going to do? Do you mind lending it to me?’ And the whole crew started laughing, like ‘it’s free!’ So there are those crazy differences but, at the heart of it, it should all be the same.”

Ask Scodelario what it takes to be a good actor in such esteemed company, she demurs, “This is such a dangerous question…For me personally,

It was amazing when you looked around the set, thinking 'Oh, three Oscar winners...

and this might sound slightly cheesy, but I think the thing I hold on to the dearest is that my friends and family aren’t from this world, they have nothing to do with movies, they don’t care, that I can just go to the pub with and talk about the guys they’re dating and the dramas on The Bachelor and things like that. That really grounds me and puts all this stuff into context for me.” Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is, by far, her biggest budget movie with all the

Boots on the ground Scodelario recalls the men complaining about their shoes on-set: “There was a day where all of the men were complaining about the little heel they had to wear on their boots. All of them were going: ‘Oh these boots! My back is killing me!’ Big deal! Are you kidding me?” Male co-star Brenton Thwaites deferentially backs down. “Yeah, respect to the ladies,” he laughs.

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