After making his big-screen debut with the 1984 film Nightmare on Elm Street, Johnny Depp has starred in multiple movies, portraying various iconic characters. And among all, his portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Carrebian franchise has become his most popular role. Depp’s portrayal has become so iconic that fans find it hard to imagine someone else in the role of Captain Jack Sparrow.
And the actor not only won over his fans but also became a close friend with his body double and stunt man in the films, Tony Angelotti, who later sued Disney Studios and the film’s producer after suffering serious injuries on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
Johnny Depp’s Body Double Got Injured While Filming
After starring in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Johnny Depp was all set to return as Jack Sparrow in the sequel, which was released in 2006. His body double Tony Angelotti was also back to do action sequences for the film’s lead star.
However, while filming one of the action sequences of the 2006 film, he suffered a life-threatening injury. The scene featured a “yo-yo” stunt in which Jack Sparrow falls off a cliff wrapped in a rope and gets dangled by his leg at the end. Tony Angelotti later shared that the makers initially tested the stunt from 40 feet.
But it did not go well. Despite not getting the proper results, they decided to do it from 80 feet. Angelotti got ready to do the stunt. “However, the operator of the descender did not have the brake on, and I went into a freefall,” Angelotti shared during an interview with Metro.
He further explained, “So my body was the yo-yo, and he hit the brake,” while Angelotti still had five wraps around his waist. This resulted in a grave pelvis injury for the stunt double, for which he would spend a year in recovery. After this, he decided to sue the studio and the producer of the film.
Tony Angelotti Sued Walt Disney Studios
Tony Angelotti suffered multiple injuries in the stunt gone wrong on the set of Johnny Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. He lost six units of blood and had to go through an ACL reconstruction. After spending a year in recovery, he had to undergo another surgery after a plate in his pelvis broke.
The stunt double also suffered from PTSD due to the incident. He decided to sue Walt Disney Studios and the producer of the 2006 film Jerry Bruckheimer after going through so much. However, he was unable to win against the studio and the film producer and lost the lawsuit in 2011.
After the incident, he was not able to perform any major stunts, and has shared that it “pretty much ended [his] major performing career.” While his career is not the same as before, he still gets to perform lighter stunts and also returned to work on future Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He also works as a stunt coordinator for different shows.
Source: Metro
