Pirates Of The Caribbean Movies Cast: Then And Now

Disney released Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl on July 9, 2003. Four sequels followed over the next 14 years, ending with Dead Men Tell No Tales on May 26, 2017.

More than two decades later, the original cast has scattered across streaming thrillers, prestige dramas and a few new franchises. Below is the Pirates of the Caribbean cast then and now: who played whom, which films each actor appeared in, and what each one is doing as of Oct. 31, 2026.

Who played whom across the five films

The table below covers the main cast from the first film, plus Bill Nighy, who joined in the second. Appearances come from Disney’s official film pages, checked against the full cast lists on The Movie Database for smaller and cameo roles. The year columns are the five films in order: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Dead Man’s Chest (2006), At World’s End (2007), On Stranger Tides (2011) and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).

Barbossa’s “cameo” in Dead Man’s Chest reflects his billing far down the film’s full cast list. Bloom and Knightley return only briefly in the 2017 film, per that film’s cast list.

Who played the chief in Pirates of the Caribbean?

Many readers search for “the chief” in the cast. As of Oct. 31, 2026, none of the five films’ cast lists on The Movie Database includes a character called “Chief,” and Disney’s official film pages do not name one either.

The chief most viewers remember is Jack Sparrow himself. In Dead Man’s Chest, the Pelegosto islanders crown Jack their chief, a scene collectible maker Hot Toys recreates, under a Disney copyright notice, in its “Pelegostos Chief Jack Sparrow” figure. So the actor behind that chief is Johnny Depp.

The islanders around him are credited by role rather than name. The Movie Database’s cast list for the film includes Michael Miranda as “Cannibal Warrior,” Natsuko Ohama and Josie Dapar as “Cannibal Woman,” and Jonathan Limbo as “Torch Native.”

Some readers may be thinking of Kevin McNally’s Joshamee Gibbs, Jack’s loyal crewman, whom Disney describes as a superstitious deckhand. His story, and the rest of the cast’s, follows below.

Johnny Depp (Captain Jack Sparrow)

Depp played Jack Sparrow in all five films. After the fifth, his legal fights drew as much coverage as his roles.

In November 2020, days after a U.K. judge dismissed his libel claim against The Sun’s publisher, Depp said Warner Bros. had “asked to resign” him from the Fantastic Beasts role of Grindelwald, and he agreed. The studio said the role would be recast.

In the U.S., a Virginia jury ruled for Depp on June 1, 2022, in his defamation suit over Amber Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed. According to NBC News, he was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, which the judge cut to the state’s $350,000 cap. Heard won $2 million on one counterclaim.

His return to a major studio film comes in November. Paramount’s Ebenezer, directed by Ti West, stars Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge and is “only in theatres November 13”. TheWrap lists Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Daisy Ridley and Ian McKellen in the cast.

After that comes Day Drinker, a Lionsgate thriller directed by Marc Webb, with Penélope Cruz and Madelyn Cline. TheWrap reported on Sept. 24, 2026, that it opens in theaters on March 26, 2027.

Is Pirates 6 happening?

Not officially. In a red-carpet interview with Deadline at Disney’s D23 expo, producer Jerry Bruckheimer said, “We’re talking to Johnny. We’re working on a screenplay.” TheWrap reported the comments on Aug. 16, 2026.

That is the latest on-record word found for this update. The report names no director, cast deal or release date. Disney, Depp and Bruckheimer’s representatives did not respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.

A year earlier, on Sept. 30, 2025, Bruckheimer told TheWrap that Margot Robbie was “still involved” and that the script was still being written. Any role for Robbie, or for the original cast, remains unconfirmed.

Geoffrey Rush (Captain Hector Barbossa)

Rush’s Barbossa was the first film’s villain and returned in every sequel. Away from the franchise, Rush won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a miniseries or movie for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers in 2005.

The old version of this page said Rush “faced defamation charges.” That was wrong. Rush sued Sydney’s Daily Telegraph for defamation over its reporting on a Sydney stage production of King Lear, and won. In 2020, an appeals court upheld the win, and TheWrap reported the payout at $2 million.

His next announced film is Shearing the Love, a New Zealand sheep-shearing comedy from first-time director Tom Hern. Co-star Daniel Musgrove’s agency said filming was scheduled to begin in early 2026. No release date had been announced as of Oct. 31, 2026.

Orlando Bloom (Will Turner)

Bloom, a Lord of the Rings alumnus, played Will Turner in four of the five Pirates movies. His career and his private life both made news in the past two years.

On July 3, 2025, representatives for Bloom and Katy Perry confirmed the end of their relationship. Their joint statement, quoted by NBC News, said they would keep co-parenting their daughter.

On screen, Bloom appeared in Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard, which screened at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 3, 2026. In October, the PA news agency reported, via the Irish News, that he had joined Netflix’s The Gentlemen for its third season, which was starting production. The report did not name his character.

Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann)

Knightley played Elizabeth Swann in the first three films and made a short return in 2017. Her two most recent leading roles are both on Netflix.

In 2025, she starred in the Netflix thriller The Woman in Cabin 10 as a journalist who sees a passenger thrown overboard. Her spy series Black Doves returns for a second season on Nov. 5, 2026, with all six episodes released that day, according to The A.V. Club and Netflix. She again plays Helen Webb.

Kevin McNally (Joshamee Gibbs)

Of the actors in the table above, McNally is the only one besides Depp and Rush to appear in all five films. Off the ship, his recent work has often been a family affair.

His wife is actor Phyllis Logan. In the Masterpiece drama Miss Austen, he plays Mr. Austen and Logan plays Mrs. Austen, and PBS notes that both also appeared in Downton Abbey.

Jack Davenport (James Norrington)

Davenport’s Norrington, the naval officer who hoped to marry Elizabeth, appeared in the first three films. Since then, Davenport has moved toward period drama.

He plays James Forsyte in The Forsytes, Masterpiece’s take on John Galsworthy’s novels. The show’s PBS page says season 2 premieres March 28, 2027.

Jonathan Pryce (Governor Weatherby Swann)

Pryce played Elizabeth’s father in the first three films. Years later, he took on a real royal: Prince Philip in The Crown, beginning with season 5, per Netflix’s cast guide.

Most recently, he is in the cast of season 6 of Apple TV’s spy drama Slow Horses. Apple’s announcement set the season to debut on Sept. 16, 2026.

Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook (Pintel and Ragetti)

Disney’s site calls Pintel and Ragetti two bumbling characters, and the pair appear together in the first three films. Their actors’ careers have gone in different directions.

Arenberg became a regular on ABC’s Once Upon a Time, where TVLine identified him as Grumpy/Leroy. As of Oct. 31, 2026, we could not confirm a newly announced project for him in a reliable source.

Crook now also writes and directs. His BBC comedy Small Prophets drew 7.7 million viewers for episode one within 28 days, Chortle reported. He is also set to direct his first feature, Mars Express (working title), with his Detectorists co-star Toby Jones, according to Chortle.

Zoe Saldaña (Anamaria)

Saldaña had a small part as the pirate Anamaria in the first film only. Her later work includes the Avatar films and an Academy Award.

She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Emilia Pérez at the 97th Academy Awards. She returned as Neytiri in Avatar: Fire and Ash, released Dec. 19, 2025.

In 2026, she led season 3 of Paramount+’s Lioness, which premiered Aug. 2. There she plays Joe McNamara, a CIA station chief, which makes her the other “chief” in this cast, if not in Pirates.

Where the cast’s next projects stand

The table below lists announced or upcoming projects with the status reported as of Oct. 31, 2026. Dates can change, so each entry reflects the linked source above.

For the franchise itself, the open question is still the one Bruckheimer raised at D23: whether a script and a deal with Depp come together. Until Disney announces a cast or a date, any Pirates reunion remains a possibility, not a plan.