Johnny Depp has a bizarre idea for a Pirates reunion with Orlando Bloom

If you ever wondered what Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom might get up to if left alone on a film set these days, it seems we now have at least one answer: apparently not growing facial hair is the closest thing to a sport for them. This all came out as Depp was doing press for his new film, Ebenezer, at a screening in New York on 1 November 2026. Naturally, someone lobbed the inevitable question about him returning as Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp, never one to give a serious soundbite if he can help it, responded in peak Depp fashion—by musing on who could grow the “fastest non-beard” between himself and Bloom.

During the New York event, Johnny Depp told People: "Well, I think we should have a ... contest of who can grow the fastest non-beard. Cause neither of us can grow a beard, I don’t think. I can’t for sure, but maybe he can. I don’t know."

In other words, Jack Sparrow and Will Turner may be pirates, but apparently, neither will be winning any Movember competitions. To add to the surreal flavour, Depp is now 63 but still being asked about revisiting roles from 20-odd years ago—which, frankly, is par for the course in Hollywood’s recycling machine.

Bromantic Notes and Missing Installments

As for Orlando Bloom, he did weigh in on the matter himself a while back—speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2026, so not that long ago. Bloom admitted he occasionally keeps in contact with Depp, calling him “amazing,” but carefully sidestepped saying anything concrete about returning as Will Turner in another Pirates of the Caribbean film. If there’s big news, neither of them are spilling it.

• Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom have co-starred in four Pirates of the Caribbean films together: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End, and Dead Men Tell No Tales.
• Bloom skipped out on the fourth entry, On Stranger Tides, which featured Depp but not Bloom or Keira Knightley in the main cast. The two did reunite for the fifth film after a decade—presumably comparing non-beards as they went.

Orlando Bloom enthusiastically said to Entertainment Weekly: "I do connect with (Depp) every now and again, because he’s amazing."

The nostalgia factor is, as ever, doing much of the heavy lifting here: both actors seem positive about each other—and presumably positive about another gigantic payday. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has publicly admitted he’d like Depp back for a sixth movie, but there’s nothing official on the books. No announcements, no cast lists, just a lot of talk about beards that don’t exist and friendships that, apparently, still do.

If anyone’s holding out hope for another round of Sparrow and Turner shenanigans—they’ll have to wait for actual news, rather than the latest round of mutual compliments and follicle jokes.

Depp and Bloom reunited on screen as Jack Sparrow and Will Turner for the fifth Pirates movie after missing the fourth, marking their fourth film together in the series.