‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Star Anthony de la Torre

Anthony de La Torre is hitting the big screen!

The Cuban-American actor is starring on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, where he gives fans a glimpse into Jack Sparrow’s past. De la Torre, who is the spitting image of our favorite pirate, plays young Sparrow in the fifth installment of the Disney franchise.

We recently caught up with the singer-turned-actor to talk about starring alongside Johnny Depp, working on new music, and much more!

Read it all in our exclusive interview below!

MORE: Javier Bardem is in Talks to be a Villain in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5.’

Congratulations on your latest film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. What was it like working alongside Johnny Depp? 

So crazy! I was legitimately obsessed with him and Jim Carey, maybe like a little bit unhealthily, as I child. I mean, I freakin’ loved them. And for me, it started with Jack Sparrow for Johnny Depp. The moment I got the audition it was like a fire lit inside of me. I had maybe three days to prepare and I watched all four movies, three times in a row like nonstop. Then I would just walk around the house like Jack. [in Jack Sparrow voice in reference to his girlfriend] “Sorry babe I can’t do the dishes today…” she’d laugh. She’s great! My girlfriend, Lana, is awesome. This was a seamless transition I was completely immersed in it because I just felt like a kid again. And then I went and did the screen test in Vancouver and when I landed back in LA I got an email saying I got it and I was like, “YEAH!” Everyone around me was like “What the…?” And I was like, “Sorry guys, in a year you’ll know. You’ll all know!” It was surreal, totally.

Why do you think Disney decided to keep your character so under wraps?

I think because the character is so precious to so many people, not just to Disney, that I think it’s risky to be like, ‘Hey, we just cast a new person to play this character that you’ve known forever as only Johnny Depp playing.’ I think they wanted to try to make it as little a deal as possible. Whereas you have the Han Solo movie, where they’re bringing in a whole new guy to do the prequel. I can totally get where they were coming from to kind of want to keep it on the DL to not throw anybody off.

You’re also currently working on an album Matador. What can fans expect to hear from that?

It is a mixture of a lot of different things. At the core, it’s just rock, but it’s influenced by INXS, Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars. It’s got a lot of different sounds and it’s kind of hard. Our latest song that we just released is called “Paradise” and it’s probably the heaviest song on the album as far as hard rock. But we have more pop stuff, too. It’s just a mix of lots of different things.

How would you say your Cuban roots have influenced your music?

Actually, I went to Cuba when I was 18 for a month and then I worked with this amazing Cuban artist called Equis (X) Alfonso, he’s like the Sting of Cuba. He’s amazing. I recorded some songs with him and we shot a music video. Initially, I was gonna go with the Latin ballads but after spending a month with him and seeing how much of a rockstar he was in Cuba and how everyone loved him, I was like, “I grew up listening to rock why don’t I just do that too?” We’re creating both English and Spanish versions of our songs now. It [being Cuban] has hugely impacted it.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you got started in music?

Actually, I have an older brother who studied music and singing in college, and he’s a way better singer than I am. He’s phenomenal, and he kinda started his studio. In high school, I made a Youtube channel, and I started to put up my songs thanks to my brother. With his help and everything he guided me through that whole process and then my uncle had worked with Desmond Child in a musical that he’s making called Cuba Libre. Freddy, my uncle, started sending Desmond my Youtube videos and Desmond never watched them ‘cause he’s not gonna look at a 15-year-old’s Youtube videos when he’s doing all these other huge stuff but one day — I hadn’t sent him anything for like three months — and one day one of his close friends reaches out to him and saying, “Hey, do you have any artists like 17-18, my daughter doesn’t have a date to her prom.” Desmond sees my video, I hadn’t sent him anything in three months, so it was perfect timing, and he watches the first 20 seconds, and he’s like “Oh, perfect,” so he calls me and he’s like “Hey, this is Desmond Child!” and I’m like, “Oh my god! This is amazing! Yeah, Desmond, it’s so good to hear from you!” He’s like, “How would you like to come to Nashville this weekend?” I’m like “Yes! I’m gonna make an album! We’re gonna go platinum this is gonna be amazing!” Then he goes on to say, “I know this really beautiful girl she doesn’t have a date to her prom…” And I’m like, “…Okay?” and then he says, “Would you be willing to come to Nashville and take her to her prom?” And I was like, “Yeah…I guess, sure let’s do it.” And so I do it. It was a great night. It was a lot of fun and then Desmond sends me a text like, “You own me forever.” Two weeks later, flies me out back and that was the start of the whole thing.

Are there any exciting projects you’re working on you want to share with our readers?

Yeah! I got two movies coming out this year. One is called, Johnny Gruesome. The other one is called, Lords of Chaos, and that one I’m really excited about. It’s a true story about black metal in Norway in the ‘90s. It’s about a satanic cult and Jonas Åkerlund directed it. He was actually a drummer in black metal bands back in the ‘80s, so if anybody was going to do it, it would be him. Ridley Scott is producing it, which is pretty dope. Yeah, I’m excited about that one.

Source: Latina