Was it gruelling?

Oh yeah. Sure. More than anything physically not just for me but for the crew having to hump seriously heavy equipment up those mountains. It was pretty intense. Like when we were on Dominique. And sometimes when you are out at sea the water may get real rough. Everyone says that filming on water always takes twice as long. Is it true?

Oh yeah it’s an obstacle course, right up close to impossible. But somehow these guys did it.

What w as it like that final day as Jack Sparrow? That must have been a big moment in your life?

It was one of those moments where you are just doing anything you can to postpone it. I remember going to Gore (Verbinski, director) and he was saying ‘I think we’ve got everything man but do you want another take?’ And I’d say; yeah, yeah, let’s do another take. Let me try something else...’ And then once we’d got it I said to him ‘Are you sure there is nothing else we can shoot?’ Because you just don’t want to say goodbye to that guy. You’ve been that person for umpteen months and you don’t want to say goodbye, it’s very strange.

Where were you on that final day?

We were in a studio that is just north of Los Angeles. One of the last things I shot was a scene where Jack is talking to himself.

Did they mark the occasion in any way?

Yeah, the crew and Gore put together a really beautiful collage of photographs, framed it and signed it. We had a big cake and champagne. It was very moving. It was like we were all saying goodbye to Captain Jack in that moment.

And h e is a character that has changed your life?

Oh yeah. He’s brought a lot of good things into my world and into my kiddies’ world so I will always hold him in very high regard even aside of the fact that it’s been an absolute pleasure to play him. It’s been a total blast.

So would you play him again?

Under the right circumstances with all the right and proper elements and a good script I would definitely give it some serious thought.

About Keith Richards…

Oh that was great. He was just so cool. Not just for me, but also for the entire crew it was so special.

When you look at the roles over the years, is there a common thread?

I don’t know. I think it might be that you need some years of distance to look at that. Maybe then you can go ‘oh yeah, I see the connection here...’ If you look at them from way back I guess the connection would be that they are a bit outside these guys, whether it’s Cry Baby or Edward Scissorhands or Sam from Benny and Joon or Axel from Arizona Dream, Ed Wood, yeah, they are a bit outside..

And with Sweeney Todd too…

(Courtesy: Sony Pictures)

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