"Disney hated me. [They were] thinking of every way they could to get rid of me, to fire me. 'Oh, we're going to have to subtitle him.' 'We don't understand Captain Jack Sparrow. What's wrong with him?' 'What's wrong with his arms?' 'Is he drunk?' 'Is he mentally f*****g stupefied?' 'Is he gay?'

They asked me, 'Is he gay?' and I answered the question over the phone. It was a lady called Nina Jacobson from Disney at the time and she asked me a couple of questions and then said, 'What is it, Johnny? Is he gay?' My tendency, of course, is to be irreverent so I said, 'Nina, didn't you know all my characters are gay?' That was a pretty abrupt end to the conversation. And I just continued shaping Jack the way I believed was best.