Walt Disney executives hated Johnny Depp's portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow, the protagonist in Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Disney apparently disapproved of Depp's choice to imbue Sparrow with feminine quirks.

In an interview, Depp said former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner disliked the way he interpreted the role of Sparrow. For his performance in the Pirates of Caribbean film, Depp earned an Oscar nomination, the first of his three nominations from the Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts.

The Hollywood actor told Vanity Fair: "They could not stand him... I believe it was Michael Eisner, the head of Disney at the time, who was quoted as saying, 'He's ruining the movie'."

"Upper-echelon Disney-ites, going, 'What's wrong with him? Is he, you know, like some kind of weird simpleton? Is he drunk? By the way, is he gay?'"

"And so I actually told this woman who was the Disney-ite, 'But didn't you know that all my characters are gay?' Which really made her nervous."

Despite Disney executive's disapproval of Depp's Jack Sparrow, it is undeniable that having Johnny Depp on the lead proved a commercially successful moved for the studio outfit. Films with the Hollywood actor have grossed over $2.6 billion at the United States box office and over $6 billion worldwide.

The 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl opened strong at number one spot in the box office with a gross of $46,630,690 in its opening weekend. The first film in the Pirates of Caribbean franchise made $654,264,015 worldwide becoming the fourth highest grossing film of 2003. The franchise is now on its fourth film, On Stranger Tides with Depp still on the lead role.