The super busy actor attended the LA press day for Universal Pictures' Public Enemies and answered a few questions about his upcoming projects, including playing The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland and climbing back into character as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean #4.
On playing The Mad Hatter:
"Well, the Hatter was awfully fun, you know? The Hatter was like... After doing something like John Dillinger, a performance where it's so restrained because of the responsibility you have to that guy, the Mad Hatter was like being fired out of a cannon. The Hatter was great fun and, again, it's one of those things where you're just amazed that that I'm not fired. I truly am."
On the status of The Lone Ranger:
"We're still in the super-beginning stages, so there's all kind of possibilities. But I feel like I have some good ideas for the characters that are interesting, that I don't think have been done before."
Returning for the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie:
"I mean, call me a glutton. If we can get the screenplay right to Pirates 4 because, obviously, virtually no cinema's perfect. So Pirates 1 had its own thing, 2 and 3, I suppose, had their own thing and it got a little confusing here and there in the story. Not that I've seen the movies, but I hear tell. I think, for me, because I love the character so much and I enjoy playing the character so much and people seem to like it, if there's an opportunity to try again, you know, it's like going up to bat. You want to get back out there and try and try and try and see what you can do. I enjoy playing Captain Jack very much."
On where he could take Captain Jack Sparrow:
"Well, at this point, what I'm trying to do is change it into a Beckett play. [Laughing] I don't know. It could be anything now at this point. Jack Sparrow could be in some geisha clothing. I don't know. We could explore other possibilities."
Terry Gilliam's considering trying again to shoot The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Has he talked to Gilliam and is he interested?
"Yeah. We've talked about it. The thing honestly with Terry... I mean, I love Terry and I'd do, personally, anything the guy wants to do. The thing is with Quixote, first, you know, my dance card is pretty nutty for the next couple of years so I'd hate to have to put him in a position or ask him to be in a position to wait for me. That would be wrong. But, also, I don't know, in a way. I feel like we went there and we tried something and whatever it was, the elements and all the things that got up underneath us were there and happened and were documented well, and were documented well in the film Lost in La Mancha. So I don't know if it's, I hope it's right for me to go back there. I don't know if it's right for Terry to, but if he wants to."
