SAG Awards mystery: How did Johnny Depp get the gold for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’?

I recently recapped the fascinating Best Actor race of 2003, in which saw Sean Penn in “Mystic River” win the first of his two Best Actor Oscars. (He would prevail again five years later for “Milk.”)

Regarding Penn’s first victory, he faced stiff competition not only from Bill Murray in “Lost in Translation” but also Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” Depp hadn’t initially been considered much of a threat — until he pulled off a huge upset at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

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A dedicated Gold Derby reader has since asked me how Depp managed to surprise at SAG. Figuring that others might be wondering the same thing, I thought that I would offer everyone in awards land my Top 5 reasons why. And here they are.

1. He had the most theatrical performance of the bunch.
And that’s an understatement. In addition to Depp, Murray and Penn, Peter Dinklage in “The Station Agent” and Ben Kingsley in “House of Sand and Fog” rounded out the SAG Awards category. All five were simply superb. However, none of them brought down the house quite like Depp did in “Pirates.” As Captain Jack Sparrow, he devoured the scenery every time the camera was on him (and even when it wasn’t). Some might have argued that Depp overdid it with all of his over-the-top antics — showing not even a modicum of restraint. That obviously didn’t matter to SAG voters. They ate up every bit of Depp and his devilishly delicious delirium.

2. “The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” was a gargantuan commercial success.
The film was released in July amid low industry expectations. However, “Pirates” practically hijacked the box office the rest of that summer. Audience reaction was through the roof, and the film went on to gross more than $300 million in the United States alone. Keep in mind that this was long before screeners were sent out to the entire SAG membership, so there was a significant correlation between box office receipts and SAG statuettes. “Pirates” sold more tickets than “House of Sand and Fog,” “Lost in Translation,” “Mystic River” and “The Station Agent” combined. That helped give Depp the winning ticket in SAG’s Best Actor sweepstakes.

SEEJohnny Depp movies: 12 greatest films ranked from worst to best

3. Depp had been steadily rising in popularity at the time.
He became a teen heartthrob in the 1980s, thanks to television’s “21 Jump Street.” He quickly made the jump to the big screen, and appeared in a wide variety of motion pictures — including 1990’s “Edward Scissorhands,” 1993’s “Benny and Joon,” 1994’s “Ed Wood,” 1997’s “Donnie Brasco” and 1999’s “Sleepy Hollow.” “Pirates” would make Depp one of the biggest stars on the planet, admired by audiences and actors alike. Some say that show biz awards are much like popularity contests. If that’s the case, it’s easy to see why the popular Depp was tops with SAG the year of “Pirates.”

4. SAG has always been more receptive to rewarding comedies than the academy has.
Think back to some of SAG’s earliest Best Motion Picture Cast selections, like 1996’s “The Birdcage” and 1997’s “The Full Monty.” Even in recent years, the group has nominated films like 2011’s “Bridesmaids” and 2018’s “Crazy Rich Asians” for its top honor. Given that SAG members seem to love to laugh, it wasn’t all that crazy for them to go crazy for Depp in “Pirates.”

5. Murray and Penn both had disadvantages in the SAG contest.
Murray’s work in “Lost in Translation” was a textbook case of nuanced, subtle acting. And those types of performances rarely catch SAG’s fancy. (Nothing lost in translation there.) Meanwhile, Penn had a slightly different problem. As magnificent as he was in “Mystic River,” his character (and the actor himself) almost seemed a bit scary. Gold Derby’s Tom O’Neil often talks about the “huggable” factor in awards races. Voters gravitate toward those whom they wish to embrace. And Penn (and his part) were people whom you wanted to run from. That sent SAG citizens two decades ago running into the arms of Depp, his Captain Jack Sparrow hitting the jackpot with the Best Actor gold.

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