‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Child Actor Dominic Scott Kay Is Now Grown Up and Making Country Music

Getty Images | Stephen Shugerman

When the third installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, “At World’s End,” was released, audiences were delivered a big surprise at the end. Once the credits had finished rolling, the few audience members still in the cinema got to see the son of Will Turner, played by Orlando Bloom, and Elizabeth Swann, played by Keira Knightley.

These days, Kay is all grown up and has an active career with his own Nashville-based music-production company having finished his first full album with the help of country music royalty Alex Orbison. It was, nevertheless, his Disney debut aboard the Flying Dutchman that kicked off what came later.

As Kay wrote on Facebook, “Having the honor of being Henry Turner in this movie and being a part of the Pirates franchise, which has always been my favorite growing up, has truly changed my life to this day.”

Kay explained that the short post-credits sequence proved invaluable for his career. “It’s crazy to see the places I’ve ended up in my life because of this character and will always be a part of me.” Despite the notoriety being in “World’s End” brought him, this wasn’t Kay’s first experience with movies, his first major role was as the son of Tom Cruise’s character in Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” (2003).

After his roles in major Hollywood films, Kay also did award-winning voiceover work for animated films such as the children’s classic “Charlotte’s Web” and “The Little Engine That Could.” According to Music Row, Kay “still holds the record as the highest working film actor under 18, having racked up nearly 50 credits to his name by his eighteenth birthday.”

While some child stars find the pressure of being in the limelight too great to bear and end up buckling, Kay managed to stay on track as he grew up, in part by moving to Nashville, where he began a second career as country musician and producer. Kay even saw his single “When Your Hair’s Mess” featured in the Nashville Scene’s 2018 “Best of Nashville“ issue. As Kay wrote on Facebook, “I’ve been in love with Nashville from the day I got here and to be in the Country Music Family now is amazing.”

Most recently, Kay has signed with Still Working Records, a label that is run by one of country legend Roy Orbison’s youngest sons, Alex “Orbi” Orbison. “I’ve known Dominic since the beach in Malibu and have been a huge fan since I saw him in Minority Report,” Orbison said to Music Row. “When we reconnected in Nashville and I heard his music, I knew he would fit in perfectly with our Still Working family.”

Kay’s most recent adventure will be a role as Consulting Producer on Season 18 of the venerable talent show “American Idol,” airing on ABC. Fans will definitely have to “keep a weather on the horizon” for this talented actor, musician, and producer, who’s only getting started with the next phase of his career.

Dominic Scott Kay at the preview of "The Great Alaskan Race" in 2019 ©Getty Images | Rachel Luna