Kaya Scodelario was thrilled she got to play a strong, intelligent swashbuckler in “Pirates of the Caribbean”

We got a really big treat earlier this summer — Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales featured a strong, intelligent main female character. Sure, you can say that Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack is still the star, and you showed up to the theater for a quick glimpse at Orlando Bloom returning to his role as Will Turner. But you stayed because Kaya Scodelario’s Carina Barbossa completely jumps off the screen.

Following in Elizabeth Swann’s boots, Carina is so much more than just the token “lady pirate.” She bursts into the movie — literally, because she’s busting out of jail when we first meet her — and quickly establishes herself as the smartest person on the Black Pearl. And that’s not just because she’s a horologist (someone who studies time) and can map the stars out at sea.

"I was worried the character was just going to be a damsel in distress or just a girlfriend and she wouldn't really have any meat on her bones," Scodelario explained to HelloGiggles. "When I spoke to the directors [Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg], they assured me that they wanted to bring a very modern, feminist, strong willed character into the Pirates' world, like you've never really seen before, and that she would be really intelligent." "That was something that I was really excited to play. It's cool, because then I also got to research astronomy, and horology, and things like that, stuff that I'd never kind of been in contact with before. So, for me as an actor, it's really cool to get to do some research, and more so as a woman, I think it's awesome to be able to play someone that I actually believed in."

Scodelario isn’t just excited that young girls now have a new lady pirate to look up to — she also feels it’s important for young boys, too.

"I think that it's awesome for young girls to see female characters like this in big movies. I think it's also really important to the boys. I'm a mother to a son, and I think it's just as important for our boys to be inspired by strong female characters in movies. And, we always talk about being inspirational for young girls, but I think it should be just the same. The next generation will see what those kind of women can kind of bring in."

As for if we might see Carina again, Scodelario is hopeful, because there’s still so much more story to tell…and there might be some more story between her and her dad, Captain Barbossa, even though it does not look like he’s coming back from the ocean anytime soon.

"The big secret [of the movie was] that she was actually Barbossa's daughter. And, that was huge...I was quite shocked because it's just not something you've ever imagined. You've never seen him as this kind of character. I thought it was gonna be really great to him as far as we get to show that side of him. I would love to be a part of [a Pirates movie] again. I think there's probably much more we can do. I think if you wanted to go to explore Carina a little bit more, maybe she takes the helm when Barbossa recedes."

That’s something we’d definitely like to see. If you’re ready to watch Carina take the helm, and also lift all the curses of the ocean, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is now out on Blu-ray, DVD, and HD Digital download.