Sam Claflin joins Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer sure like casting unknowns. Earlier this week we heard that French actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey would be getting her fish legs on to play “a beautiful and alluring young mermaid” called Syrena, and now Disney have announced that British actor Sam Claflin will play the key role of Philip, who is “a youthful missionary”.

No more details have been revealed although as Orlando Bloom won’t be returning as Will Turner they will need a young English male to ‘fill the gap’ as it were. Claflin, who will be seen in historical mini-series The Pillars of the Earth alongside Ian McShane (Blackbeard), seems like an ideal candidate to fill said gap based on the 3 images Google managed to find of him (he really must be an unknown if Google doesn’t know who he is. Where did director Rob Marshall find him?)

The cast seems to be taking shape now ready for filming in June. The main cast members are Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow (obviously), Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa and Ian McShane as Blackbeard, with Penelope Cruz playing his daughter. We also have Stephen Graham as Scram, Astrid Berges-Frisbey as mermaid Syrena and now Sam Claflin as Orlando Bloom 2.0.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will follow Jack Sparrow and Barbossa as they sail to find the fountain of youth together, only to find that Blackbeard is after it too. It’s amazing what lengths grown men will go to avoid wrinkles and a less than average performance in the lower decks (if you know what I mean).