Which rockstar was the inspiration for Jack Sparrow?

Pirates and rock stars have more in common than you might think. Both live outside the law, both have a thing for treasure, and both somehow survive against impossible odds. So when Johnny Depp needed inspiration for Disney's most notorious pirate, he turned to one of rock's most legendary figures. But which hard-living musician became the blueprint for Captain Jack Sparrow?

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The answer is: Keith Richards

Johnny Depp channeling Rolling Stones' Keith Richards for his "Pirates of the Caribbean" debut makes perfect sense when you think about it. Pirates were the rock stars of their era – living fast, staying one step ahead of the authorities, and building legends that grew with every retelling. Richards himself has cheated death so many times he makes the average pirate look like an amateur.

When Depp first swaggered onto screens as Captain Jack Sparrow in 2003, audiences weren't quite sure what they were watching. Was this a drunk pirate? A clever con man? A genius? The answer was yes – and that brilliant confusion earned Depp an Oscar nomination for what could have been just another Disney character.

The magic was in the details. Depp borrowed Richards' particular way of moving – that uncanny knack for looking totally unstable yet somehow never quite falling over. He copied the rock star's ability to seem completely lost one moment and razor-sharp the next. Even Sparrow's trinkets and accessories echo Richards' bohemian style, from the bandanas to the rings jangling on his fingers.

The whole thing came full circle in 2007 when the films' creators pulled off the ultimate inside joke: they cast Keith Richards himself as Captain Teague, Jack Sparrow's father. So the man who inspired Jack Sparrow's mannerisms became, in the Pirates universe, the literal source of them. Even Richards had to laugh.