In this new installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (in theaters NOW!) we get a new female lead in Kaya Scodelario. She is fierce and strong and we can see her backbone in the very first scene with her when she is being accused of being a witch. Instead of panicking, she calmly tells the man talking down to her that she is an astronomer and has survived on her own. Also that she was picking the lock the whole time and she knocks him down and escapes. And that is Carina Smyth in a nutshell.
We asked if she felt more beautiful all dressed up in her dress which is lovely but old. “Yeah I mean there’s something really cool about a corset, it does feel quite empowering actually, because you have to sit up strong and then, you know, the first day is awful. And I’d get my husband to secretly loosen it up at lunchtime so that I could eat and stuff. but it is actually it does feel very strong and I like that Carina’s dress, it isn’t perfect, it’s actually tattered and old and ripped up and dirty as that helped me kind of, you know, understand a bit of her back story. I think this is a dress that she’s held onto because it’s kind of the only one she has, and she’s managed to make it as practical as possible to her.”
Carina Smyth is used to surviving on her own and persevering. Kaya has played some great female lead parts and I am happy that continued with her playing Carina. She has a sweet spirit and a strong heart. Kaya says, “Every role I look for a woman that I would have liked to have seen at thirteen on the big screen. It’s a huge responsibility because people forget in blockbusters that we’re not simple, there are multi layers and there’s a lot going on and she has a lot of that. She’s an orphan, she’s a survivor. She’s also stubborn and argumentative and she’s also funny and flirty and there’s so much to her. And I’m grateful that they wrote her this way. I made a real effort with her to try and hit all those beats, it’s something that I hope my son grows up watching and respects in women and understands in women, that we aren’t just the Disney princess or the love interest or the damsel in distress and she’s certainly not any of those things”
And she told us that she loves doing all her own action scenes and she said she swam in the Australian ocean with all the sharks and things that can kill you. Which was hilarious to us but then she told us she pulled something in her shoulder doing a take and had to wear a sling for the rest of filming which was sad.
Bit of a spoiler!!!
We asked her what she hopes that her character would do going forward in the Pirates world.
Kaya Scodelario – I would really like to see her exploring her love of the stars and astronomy. And going out to the ocean. Also this new identity that she has, she’s the daughter of an infamous pirate. I think that’s it’ll be cool to see whether she takes that on or not. What she does with that new kind of mission in life.
GO SEE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES TODAY!!!
This pirate’s event looked awesome.