Johnny Depp behaved badly during filming in Australia. Photo / Getty
Johnny Depp behaved badly during filming in Australia. Photo / Getty
People who worked on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales have revealed just how out of control Johnny Depp was during filming.
The fifth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was shot on the Gold Coast in 2015 with Depp staying at Mick Doohan's Queensland compound which the movie star rented from the motorcycle racing champ.
American actor Johnny Depp attends the premiere of film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales at Shanghai Disneyland Park on May 11, 2017 in Shanghai. Photo / Getty
According to the film's producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, the Aussie press was relentless and hounded Depp non-stop.
"You've got to understand the kind of pressure Johnny was under in Australia," Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter.
"At times helicopters would follow him home. There would be so many media outside his gates that trucks were feeding them. There was so much stuff made up about him: that Johnny had a fight on set and had gone back to the States, which we both read about while we were in his trailer."
But according to sources who spoke to THR, not all of the stories were made up.
They claim Depp was constantly late on set leaving hundreds of extras waiting around for hours.
Actors Amber Heard (L) and Johnny Depp. Photo / Getty
Despite being spoken to about the issue on several occasions, Depp's behaviour continued to the point that the production team had a staffer sit in a car outside Doohan's compound to report back exactly when the movie star appeared to be up each morning.
"When he got up, he'd turn on the light, and the moment the light went on they'd call the line producer, who would then call the directors [Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg]:
'He's up! He's getting ready!'" a source told THR.
"They even had a special code term, like 'The eagle has landed.' Johnny had no idea this was going on."
Not only was he late, but Depp was also allegedly drinking heavily during his time in Australia and would fight with his then wife, Amber Heard.
A source claims Bruckheimer and Depp's then-manager, Tracey Jacobs, bickered over who was going to be the one to tell the star to pull his head in.
"She [Jacobs] went over to Jerry and said, 'You've got to do something! You're the producer'," the source told THR.
Actor Johnny Depp, dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow. Photo / Getty
"He said, 'You do something. You're the agent.'"
"Everyone was an innocent bystander watching this train wreck," the source said.
"But when Johnny came on set, he was charming, nice. He's yin and yang."
It should be noted that Jerry Bruckheimer denied that argument ever happened.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will hit Aussie cinemas on May 27 but Depp won't be in the best of moods when the film is released due to a current bitter legal battle with his former managers.
He's suing them for $US25 million accusing them of fraud mismanagement but they've countersued claiming he owes them commission for his latest Pirates movie.
