"Back! Get back!"
On the picturesque, untouched island, Matthew grabbed Depp with one hand and Keira—who had co along to see the sights—with the other, slipping quietly into the throng of the film crew.
Just ahead of them, dozens of local natives, hired as extras and ard with prop spears, had blocked the way, each of them shouting in an incomprehensible local dialect, their expressions exceptionally agitated.
The situation was not looking good. The translator and diator hired in the Dominican Republic was trying to negotiate with them but was making no headway.
Matthew pulled Keira and Depp back, simultaneously glancing behind him to see if there was an escape route they could take if things went south.
This wasn't a movie, and he wasn't playing Will Turner right now.
Against the powerful-looking native n, he could probably handle a one-on-two fight, but any more than that and he’d be overwheld.
That was right—the crew had run into so unexpected trouble. They had just finished filming a scene where Captain Jack Sparrow was about to be eaten by cannibals when the locally hired actors suddenly went on strike and surrounded the set.
Matthew quickly learned from an English-speaking guide that the scene—in which Depp’s Captain Jack is captured by a cannibal tribe and placed over a fire surrounded by fruits and vegetables, nearly becoming a al—had enraged one of the tribal chiefs. The chief believed the crew was misrepresenting their ancestors as cannibals and had co to demand an explanation.
When it ca to this kind of conflict, of course the crew leaders and higher-ups were expected to take charge. Soone like Matthew would never be foolish enough to step forward into an agitated crowd of natives; his first thought was how to get out safely if things took a turn for the worse.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten his two friends on set, and he dragged Keira and Depp, who were still trying to watch the action, back behind the rest of the crew.
"There's not going to be a fight, is there?" Depp asked, eyeing the dozens of natives nearby.
"Let's hope not," Matthew cautioned. "But don't forget, we're on their ho turf. They could have gone back to the tribe to call for more people."
Keira squeezed Matthew’s hand. "What should we do?"
Matthew glanced back again. They had retreated to the edge of a small hill. Behind them was a slope of about forty-five degrees, and through the low vegetation, he could see the crew's vehicles. With his skills, getting down wouldn't be a problem.
"If the natives attack," Matthew pointed to the slope and whispered, "we go down this way."
Keira also looked back and asked, "Will there be snakes?"
"Well," Depp interjected, "generally speaking, a place like this is definitely going to have snakes."
Keira instinctively moved a little closer to Matthew, as if she feared a snake might lunge at her at any mont.
Matthew ignored Depp's morbid comntary and reminded him and Keira, "If things go wrong, you need to stay close to ."
He watched the commotion up ahead. The situation was clearly deteriorating; the tribesn seed to be growing more and more agitated. Director Gore Verbinski and one of the producers had asked the crew's security to form a line for safety, but no one had anticipated this kind of incident. The security personnel on hand were just a handful of seven or eight n, the ones who had arrived earlier to clear the area of any potential snakes or other animals.
There were a lot of crew mbers here, fifty or sixty people, but if sothing happened, besides a few stuntn from the action team, the rest would likely be unable to stop the natives.
"Get out the dollars!" Depp suddenly shouted. "Just pay them and get it over with!"
Keira stood on her tiptoes, peering through a gap in the crowd, and asked curiously, "Didn't the production team communicate with the native people beforehand?"
Matthew replied, "It seems there was no communication at all."
But Depp shot back, "It's just a movie. They aren't actually cannibals, so why get so upset? And it's our freedom to shoot what we want."
Hearing those words from Depp, Matthew let out a quiet sigh.
Keira nodded, echoing Depp's sentint. "They're taking this too seriously, interfering with the crew's work for no reason."
It was clear that both of them thought the natives were being unreasonable.
Matthew wasn't surprised. He figured that ninety-nine percent of the people in their circle would think the sa way, even well-known eccentrics like Depp.
A middle-aged man with sharp eyes and a deep side part suddenly backed away from the crowd and spotted Matthew, Depp, and Keira.
Matthew and his small group saw him too. The man was none other than the director, Gore Verbinski.
Both sides gave a slight nod, a silent acknowledgnt that they were all ready to abandon the crew and run at a mont's notice.
Fortunately, the situation didn't spiral out of control. After nearly half an hour of talking and coaxing, a local crew mber hired for the shoot finally managed to calm the natives down. Shortly after, the local state police arrived. They didn't disperse the native actors but ford a human "wall" between them and the film crew.
"It's all right now," Keira said, breathing a sigh of relief.
Matthew nodded slightly. "The Dominican governnt is here. The situation shouldn't get any worse."
The production had spent over $100 million in the Dominican Republic and employed more than 400 local residents, which was an absolutely massive investnt for a governnt where the unemploynt rate was over seventy percent.
Once the film was released, it would also serve as a major boost to the Dominican tourism industry.
The fiasco was settled. The crew, for their part, knew how to handle the problem. After consulting with a local contact, they gifted 100 cases of Coca-Cola to each of the several local indigenous tribes.
The natives then departed in high spirits, leaving behind the lingering question of whether their motive hadn't just been to blackmail the crew from the start.
Of course, the shooting schedule remained unchanged, and the natives were still portrayed in the footage as cannibalistic tribes.
However, to prevent any further surprises, Gore Verbinski had the crew temporarily leave for Santo Domingo and wait to return to the U.S. to find another location to shoot the remaining scenes.
From the beginning, the crew never once considered changing the shoot because of the local people's feelings.
In the car on the way back, Matthew brought the topic up with Depp, who once again made it clear that what Hollywood shoots is Hollywood's absolute freedom.
****
Back at their hotel, Matthew, Keira, Depp, and Gore Verbinski had dinner together. From what Verbinski said, it was clear how the production team viewed the matter.
Since Jerry Bruckheir wasn't even in the Dominican Republic, Gore Verbinski, as the titular producer, was undoubtedly the most influential person on set. He made it clear that he could give small gifts to the local tribes, like Coca-Cola, but the script was not to be changed.
Matthew wasn't surprised. Many people in Hollywood could be exceptionally stubborn at tis.
In any case, the natives had left happily with their soda, the crew didn't fire them, and the scenes in question would be fild in North Arica. The whole commotion was over.
Depp stood up, stretched, and said his goodbyes. "I'm going to my room to sleep."
Without waiting for the others to reply, he got up and left the restaurant alone.
Matthew and Keira chatted with Gore Verbinski for another half hour or so. When they saw a crew mber approach to discuss sothing with the director, they also took the initiative to say goodnight and left the restaurant.
Riding the elevator up to his floor, Matthew asked Keira tentatively, "Are you coming to my room tonight?"
They had spent nearly every night together for the past few days. Keira said nothing, but simply reached out and took Matthew's hand. The aning was clear enough.
Matthew led Keira out of the elevator. Just as they turned into the hallway, he caught a glimpse of a figure flashing past Depp's door, as if entering his room.
At the sa ti, they heard a sound like the muffled squawk of a parrot.
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