Ten minutes earlier, filming was in full swing.
Atop the fortress walls, Commodore Norrington was chatting with Elizabeth. The handsome commodore, who bore a striking resemblance to Captain America, was going on and on about his achievements and ambitions, completely oblivious to the fact that Elizabeth was struggling to breathe, tortured by her corset. She fanned herself frantically, gasping for air.
"I've already made a name for myself in my career. Now all I need is…" Norrington began, smiling, about to confess his feelings. But then, to his shock, Elizabeth toppled over the stone wall.
Dressed in a white floral gown, she plummeted from a height of several dozen feet.
Splash!
A huge wave erupted on the sea's surface.
Of course, the figure falling from the sky wasn't Elizabeth but a mannequin dressed in the same outfit. If a real person fell from that height into water, it'd be about as forgiving as hitting concrete. But audiences don't think that way—they assume falling into water cushions the impact. Since viewers wouldn't nitpick, and this approach looked more dramatic, the director and writers were all for it. After all, there's no award for overthinking realism.
"Alright, you're up," Director Verbinski said.
In the next scene, Captain Jack Sparrow, in the middle of stealing a ship, spots Elizabeth falling into the water. Without a second thought, he leaps into the sea with a graceful dive, rescuing her.
"This damn weather! Fine, fine!" Johnny Depp muttered to himself, dreading the task. Jumping into freezing water in this cold weather was pure misery. But if he didn't nail this scene today, they wouldn't get another sunny day like this for shooting anytime soon.
While warming up, Depp grumbled under his breath, "Those so-called experts are full of it. Global warming, my ass—it's freezing out here!"
Once ready, he signaled to the director that he was good to go.
"Action!"
With the clack of the clapperboard, Captain Jack Sparrow dove into the sea with flair. Mid-air, Depp thought to himself, That stunt double's acting is solid, so I've gotta make my action scenes just as good!
Splash!
The moment he hit the water, the immense pressure felt like a punch to the head, leaving him dizzy. Before he could recover, the bone-chilling cold gripped him, turning him into a frozen rock sinking toward the ocean floor. He tried to swim, but his waterlogged clothes clung to him like heavy ropes, making movement nearly impossible. His leather boots, now filled with seawater, felt like two iron weights dragging him deeper.
Oh God, am I gonna make it? I'm not dying here today, am I?
Panic set in as the thought flashed through his mind. He thrashed desperately to reach the surface, but the more he struggled, the deeper he sank.
This scene was only meant to capture Jack Sparrow's heroic dive, not his underwater performance, so no dive cinematographer was on hand. The crew had prepared safety flotation gear, but to avoid ruining the shot, it wasn't deployed right away. After filming Jack's dive, the crew tossed the gear into the water. Depp was a decent swimmer—normally, he'd just paddle a bit and grab the equipment.
But he didn't resurface.
After a few dozen seconds, the crew realized something was wrong. They started shouting to each other, and a few strong swimmers jumped in to help.
Seeing the chaos, Luke was surprised. In his memory from his past life, nothing like this had happened during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean. Maybe it was because that production started a few months later, when the weather wasn't so brutally cold. This time, multiple cold fronts had hit, making the icy seawater a real hazard for filming.
Worried about a serious accident, Luke hurried toward the shooting location. In just a few steps, he reached the sailboat used for the scene. He saw the rescue crew floating on the surface, clutching flotation boards and gasping for air, but there was still no sign of Depp.
"What's going on, Director?" Luke asked.
"It's too cold. The crew who went in to save him are half-frozen and had to come back up without diving deeper," Verbinski replied, his face pale.
"Don't you have lifeguards on set?" Luke asked. For a water scene like this, professional lifeguards were standard to prevent accidents. Relying on crew members who happened to be good swimmers wasn't ideal, and their failure in this cold wasn't surprising.
"We had two. One called in sick with a fever from yesterday's cold snap, and the other just twisted their ankle rushing over here," Verbinski explained, feeling like the universe was conspiring against him. How could the weather turn this cold out of nowhere? And how could Depp, a strong swimmer, miss the rescue gear right in front of him?
If something happened to him, what then? They had lifeguards, but they were useless right now!
"I'll give it a shot," Luke said, already peeling off his clothes.
"You sure? If something happens to you too, we're done for," Verbinski warned.
"I'm not a pro swimmer, but I'm in good shape. Trust me," Luke reassured.
"Thank you! I don't even know how to express my gratitude," Verbinski said, gripping Luke's hand tightly. He recalled Luke's impressive athleticism in action scenes—maybe he really could save Depp. Despite the obvious tension between Luke and Depp, the fact that Luke was willing to risk himself was remarkable. Verbinski's respect for him skyrocketed.
Luke's reasoning was straightforward. He couldn't just stand by and let Johnny Depp drown. From a professional standpoint, Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow was the heart of Pirates of the Caribbean. Luke was counting on this movie to be a hit, maybe even outshine The Lord of the Rings to complete his system's mission. On a personal level, while Depp had some hostility toward him, it was understandable, and Depp wasn't a bad guy. This was a chance to build some camaraderie.
"Be careful!" Verbinski called out, terrified of another mishap. One more accident, and this movie was toast.
Luke nodded, signaling he'd be fine, then dove swiftly into the sea.