There are still moments when Johnny Depp finds it hard to fully comprehend the phenomenal success of Pirates of the Caribbean.

He knows, too, that his character, the lovable rogue Captain Jack Sparrow, is held in great affection by a massive audience eager to see more of his adventures. But sometimes, he can't quite believe that, either.

“It's beyond me how such a character has sort of taken root in some people's hearts,” he says. “It's still shocking for me because I was handed this opportunity to make something of this character and I had pretty solid ideas about who he was and what he should be like. But there were a number of people who thought that I was nuts…”

The cynics may have scoffed but they were proved spectacularly wrong when Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was both a critical and box office success in 2003.

Depp's winning portrayal of Captain Jack, the pirate who desperately wants to regain control of his beloved ship from the ghostly crew who have captured it, earned him an Oscar nomination and was one of the highlights of a hugely enjoyable movie which managed to skilfully blend humour, adventure and a love story - Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom as star crossed lovers Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner.

And now director Gore Verbinski and Depp, Knightley and Bloom have reunited to make Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest - and a third movie, virtually back to back. A commitment which has meant Depp has been playing Sparrow for more than a year now. He's clearly happy to do so.

“In Pirates 2 and Pirates 3 you'll get to see new layers of Captain Jack. You get to see him in different situations, situations that he can't talk his way out of. There's a lot of fun stuff.”

Depp hopes Captain Jack will become - if he isn't already - one of the all time classic Disney characters, loved by fans of all ages, young and old.

“Having watched Disney animated classics for years and years, old cartoons that I grew up watching, one of the things that was really important to me was the idea of a cartoon character that a three year old can sit down on the couch next to a 20 year old and a 50 year old and a 75 year old. And they all react and that they all get the same thing out of this character. So that was one of the challenges for me.

“I wanted to try and make this guy appeal to little kids as well as hardened intellectuals - that was what I was going for. And I hope it works.”

Q: What does The Black Pearl mean to Captain Jack?

A: The Black Pearl represents freedom. It's his one true love.

Q: Jack's a pirate. But does he live by any rules?

A: I think Jack definitely has his own set of rules, his own code that he lives by and the proper, real pirates did in those days. They were very strict about the code. I think Jack has set parameters for himself.

Q: What kind of scrapes will Jack get into in Dead Man's Chest?

A: Well, he certainly has something very specific on his mind which is outside financial gain. It's more to do with a spiritual journey, in a weird way, He's looking for something extremely unique.

Q: How do the key, the chest and the heart feature in the story?

A: Well, early in the film Jack receives the `black spot' which is the end for all pirates once they receive that. If you're a pirate, a sea faring man, and someone delivers the black spot to you that's the end of you, it means you belong to Davy Jones. And that ups the stakes considerably for Jack, as you can imagine. And it puts him on a spiritual path and maybe in slightly more panic mode.

Q: It's time to pay the piper and the piper is Davy Jones..

A: Yes, Jack had an arrangement with Davy Jones some years prior and the jig is up, it's time for Jack to pay his debt. Of course Jack is going to try and avoid that at all costs. But Davy Jones is the end of it all, he's life and death and most assuredly death.

Q: Does he have any more earthly adversaries?

A: Yes, there's (Lord Cutler) Beckett (played by Tom Hollander) who represents the East India Trading Company, which is big business and finance, and they are a huge threat to the age of piracy. So both Davy Jones and Beckett are extremely dangerous for Jack in their own ways.

Q: It's obviously a big budget film. How do you keep hold of the character with all distractions of film making at this level?

A: This is how naïve I am. On the first film it seemed to me we were making quite an intimate little film because as far as I'm concerned you go in there, you get in the trenches, you're with your director and you're slugging it out and you're making things happen. And you're doing what you are meant to do within the context, within the structure of the scene. It didn't dawn on me how epic things were. In fact it didn't dawn on me until we were probably half way through shooting when I saw the first rough cut of the first trailer and I was suddenly completely shocked, like `wow, this is enormous!' Now coming on to Dead Man's Chest and having a pretty good handle on the character, knowing him as well as I do, it's obviously so much larger than the first. The structure, the story, it's a lot more complicated to shoot. They've upped the stakes quite heavily during the second movie.

Q: You've been filming in some exotic locations. Has the weather played a big part on this shoot?

A: We've been through every possible circumstance in terms of the weather. We started out down in St Vincent and Dominique in sweltering heat and humidity and then later in the Bahamas having dealt with the threat of every hurricane swiping through there.

Q: It's such a massive undertaking for the director - two films virtually back to back, exotic locations, shooting on water. How does he cope with it?

A: I have a profound respect for Gore and I always have from the first instant we worked together on the first film. And watching him on this one, watching what he's had to experience and deal with, it's incredible. I've learned so much from just being around him and watching him. Even under incredible pressure I've never seen him step outside or lose his composure or lose his vision. He just deals with it and fights his way out of that corner.

Q: Does it feel different, being on a Jerry Bruckheimer set?

A: Well as I told you, on the first one, innocently it just felt very intimate to me and it got more and more grand as time went on. This one is totally utterly Jerry Bruckheimer - everything's in, the kitchen sink, everything. And it's done with incredible taste and he uses the best guys to do it and it's impressive. So yeah, working on a Jerry Bruckheimer production is a different animal altogether.

Q: Captain Jack's costume is impressively exotic. Where does it come from?

A: I spent some time with Keith Richards who was a huge part of the inspiration for the character - he was definitely one of the main ingredients to the soup that is Captain Jack. I spent a little time with Keith and each time I'd see him he'd have a new thing tied in his hair and it was like `what's that hanging down?' and he'd be `ah yeah, I got that in Bermuda..' or wherever. So I kept thinking about that. So it seemed to me that Jack on his travels and adventures would see something and go `oh, I'll keep that..' and you know, tie it in. So each little trinket would have a story.

Q: What's it been like to get the main cast back together for the sequels?

A: Oh it's been great, amazing on every level, to have the same cast back. And you know equally, to have the majority of the same crew from One back has been fantastic. And we were on that film for a very long time and you get very close, you become like a sort of weird gypsy family, a travelling circus. So having everybody back for Pirates 2 and 3 has been a real blessing. Some of the guys on the crew know my character probably as well as I do. They could play Captain Jack just as well as I can at this point.

Q: Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom's careers have taken off since the first Pirates. They are both big stars now. Has that changed anything?

A: No, I think it's the same people as far as I can tell. They still come in, work hard and properly committed. Keira's as sweet as can be, Orlando's as sweet as can be. I'm really happy that we got everybody back and everybody's in relatively the same condition as when we started this thing.

Q: With some interesting new cast members too, like Bill Nighy and Stellan Skarsgard…

A: They've been great fun. You get in there and start bouncing the ball around with Bill and Stellan, now what more could you ask? And Naomie (Harris) is terrific. She's bringing a lot to an interesting character. There's a lot to look forward to in terms of what this could be as a film. I'm actually very excited to see it myself - I'll just close my eyes when I come on the screen and then somebody can poke me when I'm gone!

Q: I understand Jack gets chased by cannibals in Pirates 2. What was that like to film?

A: Utterly exhausting. From my perspective it was `OK, here's 200 of these guys dressed up as cannibals and they're gonna chase you down the beach..' You're in full regalia and there's a giant piece of rope tied around my ankle and I'm running through water. It was just exhausting. And it was days and days of that. For me it wasn't particularly fun to film but the end result was worth it.

If Keira Knightley sometimes feels that she's been on the high seas, filming Pirates of the Caribbean, for a long, long time, it's easy to understand. Because she has.

Keira Knightley, along with the all-star line up from the first, hugely successful Pirates film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, have reunited with director Gore Verbinski to make Pirates 2, Dead Man's Chest, out this summer, and Pirates 3, which we'll see next year, virtually back to back.

“It felt like the last two years had never happened and we've been working on Pirates the entire time,” she notes. Not that she's complaining. “We have got these fantastic sets, it's pretty much exactly the same crew with a couple of additions, the same cast, same director, same writers, same producers obviously, so it really is like we never finished doing the first one and we have just continued.”

The first film, released in 2003, was a critical and box office triumph which starred Johnny Depp as lovable rogue Jack Sparrow, the colourful pirate who rescues the beautiful governor's daughter, Elizabeth Swann - played by Keira - from the villainous Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his cohorts. Add a dash of romance, provided by Orlando Bloom as Elizabeth's love, Will Turner, and the result was a funny, superbly paced action thriller which entertained young and old alike.

Today, in an interview during a break on set at the Universal Studios in Hollywood, Keira is in Pirates 3 mode. Tomorrow, or the next day, it's back to Pirates 2. Doesn't it get confusing?

“Hugely, yes,” she laughs. “It is a bit weird at the moment coming to the end of the number three chunk to suddenly try and get your head back in to number two. So in a funny kind of way it seems like one big long film as opposed to two separate films, which I suppose is a good thing, but it is a little strange.”

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Keira is sworn to secrecy to keep a good deal of the story under wraps but she's convinced that Pirates 2 - and indeed 3 - is looking in fantastic shape. “The look of it is really cool and it seems to have evolved in a kind of natural way for it,” she says.

At just 21 years old, Knightley has established herself as one of the leading actresses working in Hollywood. She was born and raised on the outskirts of London, the daughter of actor Will Knightley and playwright Sharman Macdonald.

After roles on British television, Knightley won international acclaim for her role in Bend It Like Beckham. She also starred in Richard Curtis's romantic comedy, Love Actually, played Guinevere in King Arthur and starred opposite Adrien Brody in The Jacket. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Pride and Prejudice and played a bounty hunter in Domino.

Q: How is working on Pirates 2 and 3 compared to the first film?

A: It has been really weird actually because I can't even remember where we started. I guess we started in February and it felt like the last two years had never happened and we have been working on Pirates of the Caribbean the entire time. (laughs) But it has been great. It's a long haul, as I said, we started in February, we had about a month and a half on hiatus and then we are shooting until February or March (2006), so it is a big one. I have never done anything as long which makes it different, but the guys are great and it is pretty much all the same people and it's nice, it's good fun.

Q: Have you kind of picked up where you left off from the first one?

A: Yes, pretty much. We have got theses fantastic sets, it's pretty much exactly the same crew with a couple of additions, the same cast, same director, same writers, same producers obviously, so it really is like we never finished doing the first one and we have just continued.

Q: What are you allowed to tell us a about what happens in Pirates two?

A: I don't know! Absolutely nothing probably (laughs) I have two swords, that is all I am saying. It's great. It's just more really, maybe a little bit darker and we have some really fantastic fight scenes.

Q: Have you done much training for the role?

A: We are doing a big fight scene in the (studio) at the moment which is one of the reasons why I am not working because it takes so bloody long (laughs) But yeah we have done a lot of that and it was good, I did a couple of weeks training at the beginning of filming but the stunt guys are great and again they were the same guys as on the first one so I had worked with them before. And I think we all picked it up pretty quick so it was just really good.

Q: Did you insist on the fight scenes being put in the script?

A: I wouldn't say insist, no, I don't think you can insist on anything, but I did ask, yeah. I mean on the first one they kept asking what I wanted for my character and I kept on saying `I want a sword.' and I never got one so in this one they gave me two, so I am very lucky (laughs).

Q: What sort of costumes do you wear in this one? Are you back in the corsets?

A: Well we are doing Pirates 3 at the moment so I am in a kind of oriental type vibe thing with shorts - it's the first time I have got legs out and it's terrifying (laughs). Actually I am really glad, it's so hot in there it is unbelievable, and everybody else has got their proper pirate stuff on and I am a little less dressed than everyone else and I am very glad, so that's good. The rest of the time I've got kind of the Pirate look instead of the corset.

Q: And do you prefer that rather than being strapped in?

A: I quite like corsets actually; it kind of gives you a character. You feel so ladylike but I kind of feel a little bit more like me now because I am in sort of boy's attire. I am giving far too much away (laughs). Both are good.

Q: You are shooting Pirates 2 and 3 at the same time. Isn't that confusing?

A: Hugely, yes.

Q: Can you tell us just a little bit about that?

A: Well before the hiatus we were really only doing number two. In fact I didn't do anything for three so that was great. We are now doing three at the moment and for the next couple of days and then we're swapping back to two. So it does get a bit confusing and trying to talk about it here and trying to separate both of them is even more confusing. But we have been doing it in chunks, it's not like we have been doing one day on two, one day on three. Like the last three weeks we have been on number three and then the next month as soon as we get to the Bahamas we will be on number two and then we will go back to number three. So it hasn't been too bad. But it is a bit weird at the moment coming to the end of the number three chunk to suddenly try and get your head back in to number two. So in a funny kind of way it seems like one big long film as opposed to two separate films, which I suppose is a good thing, but it is a little strange.

Q: Do you enjoy the time you film in the Caribbean or do you prefer being here in LA?

A: I prefer being here in LA. We go to some very beautiful places and we go to some not so beautiful places, I think you do end up getting island fever and especially if you are going to touristy islands. They are great for a couple of weeks and you go `oh look there's the beach, this is lovely.' And then you go `OK, what else? I've done the beach, I've done the sea, I have read all my books, I can't do anything else!' So it gets a bit difficult but in saying that it is beautiful and there are definitely much worse places. But I'm enjoying being in LA - I am a city girl so I like cities.

Q: Does your mum come out here with you?

A: She is out here with me at the moment.

Q: Does she manage your career?

A: No she has never done that since I started actually. She's a writer, so she writes. She really is only there to hand me a cup of coffee occasionally. And be a Mum (laughs) and tell me off!

Q: You must be pleased with the critical reaction to Pride and Prejudice because it's had some great reviews?

A: Has it? Good. I haven't seen any of that. If I believed the good stuff, I would have to believe the bad stuff as well and neither of it is very helpful for me. But that's good, that's great to know. I like it. All the experiences that I have had so far have been absolutely amazing. And it is lovely to come back on to Pirates, with a film that is already established because there's so much kind of excitement around it. But equally it is great to do things that are really a complete risk and you don't know what the outcome is going to be.

Q: A lot has happened in your career since the first Pirates film.

A: Yeah, I've got a bigger trailer! (laughs). That says a lot doesn't it.

Q: But does it feel like things have changed?

A: We made it in 2003 and yes stuff has changed. I mean I have been working non-stop for one thing, so that's changed. But to tell you the truth the banter on set is exactly the same, so that hasn't changed. You are working with the same people and it doesn't matter if you have done a lot of films in between or not, they are going to treat you the same as they did. And know, that's cool, that's the way it should be. So the work hasn't changed but the trailer has (laughs).

Q: Do you have a personal assistant these days?

A: I do, he is over there.

Q: You said in the past you didn't want to get one because you are old enough to handle life yourself.

A: No I said I didn't want to get one because I wasn't old enough to handle my life and I wanted to learn how to. The answer to that is that I only have him when I am working. I don't have him when I am not working, but it gets to the point if you are working back to back you need some extra help.

Q: What else did you do when you had time off in The Bahamas?

A: I read a good biography on Lucrezia Borgia, I read a good book Hitler's Bunker. I read a lot of scripts.

Q: How do you choose a film?

A: I don't know, it's just whatever catches my fancy. If it is a film I think I would want to see and then that's kind of a good way to judge it. And if you meet the director and you like them then that's even a better way to judge it. But it just depends. I don't pick it by genre, if I read a good comedy and I go `oh yeah, I'd really like to be a part of that..' but equally it could be a drama. I don't really have a plan; it's just what jumps out at me.

Q: Is there a sense that because the first Pirates was such a big hit that you have to match it or better it this time?

A: For me personally, no. I mean I think there is a certain amount of pressure because it was so loved and you kind of want to make it as good as you possibly can. But I think that is really the same with any film. What's nice is the level of excitement around Pirates is huge and normally there isn't that bigger level of excitement around anything you do until it comes out. But it's quite nice to be in something where people go `so come on, what's going to happen? Tell us what's going to happen?'

Q: But has the next installment lived up to your own expectations?

A: So far yes, absolutely. These are the sort of films where you read it on the page and you can't imagine what it is going to be like on the screen. I mean it was like the first one, none of us knew what it was going to be like. And in a funny kind of way it really is exactly the same because with this. I can say `yeah it was a great script..' But I can't imagine what the finished product will be like. I think it is going to be great. I mean from what I have done, I haven't seen anything, but from what I have done it seems cool, the look of it is really cool and it seems to have evolved in a kind of natural way for it,. There are so many pirate stories, you know, you are bound to find a good one! (laughs) So it's a really exciting but I don't know what it will be like.

Q: Any plans for after Pirates has finished?

A: I cannot imagine finishing this. I just can't. I mean I don't think we are even half way through yet, well just half way, so no. I've started to read a couple of scripts, but I can't get my head around them yet. So no, no clue.

Q: Do you plan or do you think about doing it more serious roles like Domino?

A: I didn't think Domino is that serious a drama, really. I think the whole point of acting is to change as much as possible, if you are not changing then I don't think it would be fun. So yeah, of course I would want to change. If it is a drama or if it is comedy, I don't know, but hopefully all of them, I'm a film fan so I like all genres. Apart from horror because I am scared of it, so I don't imagine myself doing a horror film. But apart from that I like all of it, so who knows?

Q: What's it like acting alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom?

A: It's amazing, I mean, they are very beautiful. (laughs) It is very easy on the eye. And they are really great as well, they are lovely and watching Johnny work, you know it's masterful really, it's like taking an acting master class, so that's always enjoyable. And Orlando I have known for a very long time. I used to do things in London with him and his ex-girlfriend so it's really nice you know to spend time with him as well. He's my mate, which is nice.

When he was at drama school, Orlando Bloom never quite imagined himself in action adventure movies. As he notes with a smile, it's funny how things turn out.

His first major project was playing Legolas the elf in Peter Jackson's award winning Lord of the Rings trilogy and recently, he starred in Ridley Scott's action epic, Kingdom of Heaven. And let's not forget playing Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean. How could we?

Along with Johnny Depp as the lovable rogue Jack Sparrow and Keira Knightley, as Elizabeth Swann the governor's daughter who falls for Will, Orlando obviously, and understandably, holds the first movie in high esteem.

“Oh we had a fabulous time making it,” he says. “Lovely people, fantastic locations and a great director. It was one of the best professional experiences I've ever had.”

And so it's easy to understand why he was keen to repeat the experience on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and Pirates 3, which have been filmed, virtually, back to back.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski have reunited their key creative team - cast, writers, crew - and added some new talent - Bill Nighy plays Davy Jones, the underworld captor of sea faring souls - and Bloom couldn't be happier to be back.

“I really enjoy doing it,” he says. “I get to work with you know Johnny and Gore Verbinski and all these great talents. It's amazing because it's a chance for me to continue to learn my craft from some more experienced actors.”

Orlando admits that he never dreamed that he would be making quite so many action movies. But one of the many benefits is that his sword fighting technique gets better and better.

“I used to have to rehearse for weeks and weeks in advance but now I can have like three or four sessions with the stunt guys and I can pick it up much quicker which is a bonus,” he says.

“I find myself in all these action adventure movies and they are fantastic but I never thought I would be doing so many of them. But I have to say I really love them. It's great fun to go to work everyday on Pirates and it `s got the same kind of kinetic energy as the first one, only there's even more.”

Orlando knew better than most that filming two sequels virtually back to back would be a rollercoaster ride and a supreme challenge for all concerned. There was a two-month hiatus last year and another break whilst Verbinski edited Dead Man's Chest ready for release this summer.

He spent almost two years in New Zealand making Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and Pirates 2 and 3 was, in some ways at least, a similar experience.

"I am reminded of the experience on Rings where it was that feeling of a huge steam train and everyone is just grabbing hold of it, trying to get a ride and letting is blow out of steam a bit,” he says. “But at the same time that madness, that crazy kind of wild beast that is running away from you is what gives it that energy and excitement and it makes the tension that much more palpable.”

Born in Canterbury, England 29 years ago, Orlando has enjoyed a remarkable career since Lord of the Rings enjoyed phenomenal box office and critical success. He played Paris opposite Brad Pitt in Troy, a milkman turned boxer in the small budget British comedy The Calcium Kid, was reunited with Ridley Scott for the starring role in Kingdom of Heaven - they had previously worked together on Black Hawk Down - and recently, played opposite Kirsten Dunst in Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy Elizabethtown.

This interview was conducted during a break from filming on the Universal Studios sound stage in Hollywood.

Q: So how's it going, what is it like compared to working on the first one?

A: It's really exciting, I have to say. You probably know that we had to sign up to do a second movie when we did the first movie and the idea of doing two and three back to back was something that came up and I thought `This is great, family fun entertainment' And I really enjoy doing it, I get to work with you know Johnny and Gore Verbinski and all these great talents. It's amazing because it's a chance for me to continue to learn my craft from some more experienced actors.

Q: Do you ask them for any advice?

A: All the time, yeah, and they are great, they are really good. The other day I was doing some press and thinking that I find myself in all these action adventure movies and they are fantastic but I never thought I would be doing so many of them. And I love them. They are fantastic but I never thought I'd be doing so many of them - sword fighting stuff. But I love them. It's great fun to go to work everyday on Pirates and it`s got the same kind of kinetic energy as the first one, only there's even more. I guess after the success of the first one they, they've been able to elaborate with costume, with set design, with locations and we've been to some amazing locations. In the first one, there wasn't so many shots of turquoise ocean that you can't imagine we were in the Caribbean because we were filming in like St Vincent. This time we have been filming in some pretty amazing places like the Exumas in the Bahamas which has that particularly vibrant white sand and blue ocean. It will look amazing and just gives such a rich colour texture on screen.

Q: How much easier are the fight scenes for you now?

A: It's like when you start learning dialogue. It gets easier the more dialogue you have the easier it comes to learn it. The body is a muscle and the more you do you get `muscle' memory. There is basic parry routine that works for pretty much any sword fight and you vary it, depending on what sword you are using. But yeah, it has gotten a lot easier. I used to have to rehearse for weeks and weeks in advance but now I can have like three or four sessions with the stunt guys and I can pick it up much quicker which is a bonus.

Q: Is it true that your character is developing a darker side in Pirates 2?

A: Yeah, it slowly develops in the third movie. But, listen it is still a Disney pirates movie and it's not like I am going to go around slaughtering people unnecessarily. It's not like I'm Hayden Christensen in Star Wars as Darth Vadar. But there is character development in terms of the relationship with my father and my desire to release my father from his physical imprisonment, which is the form that he takes, as do all the pirates under Davy Jones' command. They all become these kind of grotesque sea creature monster things which is basically a new and improved and excitingly different version of the skeletal pirates. So my desire is to free him from that prison and somehow get the girl at the end, go with that connection to Elizabeth. And so I think the darkness comes in a sense that you are not quite sure what angle Will is coming from. He manipulates things in order to get what he wants and he has kind of gotten wise to Jack Sparrow in some respect. He has learned a few tricks from Jack Sparrow so he playing the game a little bit himself, as are all the characters.

Q: What sort of a tricks?

A: You will have to wait and see I am afraid. But all the characters actually have that kind of a development. It's exciting because with a sequel you think, `what are we going to do? How can we recreate the magic? Shouldn't we have just left it?” But, actually, with all the same writing team, Ted (Elliott) and Terry (Rossio) Penny Rose doing the costume, everyone, the same. OK, the production is, I think, a little different perhaps in design but it's all just improved really and the character development is really improved and it certainly doesn't feel like a poor man's version of the first one. And I'd be the first one to go “whoops” if it did. But Gore is such a fantastic director. He has so much vibrancy, so much life and energy to do this sort of thing. It's remarkable. It is kind of crazy doing two movies back to back because it's just such a huge undertaking and I am reminded of the experience on Rings where it was that feeling of a huge steam train and everyone is just grabbing hold of it, trying to get a ride and letting is blow out of steam a bit. But at the same time that madness, that crazy kind of wild beast that is running away from you is what gives it that energy and excitement and it makes the tension that much more palpable.

Q: Is this the most exciting project you've worked on?

A: Well, I had the most ridiculous good fortune when I left drama school to work on a project like Rings that went into three movies. That was an incredible break out for me but Pirates really sealed the deal in terms of giving me opportunities to do movies like Kingdom of Heaven and Elizabethtown or this little movie I did called Haven and it's given me the kind of fan base which has enabled me to move forward and to be able to make choices. Moving forwards I'll be able to make interesting choices that I always hoped to be able to make anyway. Pirates was doubly amazing because it came from the side, out of left field and when this script was going round town a lot of people just passed over it because it was like a Disney adventure ride. It was one of those scripts that nobody really jumped on and then we jumped on it and it was a really good script So it was exciting in that sense because it was like' wow `who knew it would have that kind of cachet and success?'

Q: How do the sequels differ from the first movie?

A: Well if you veer too far away from what you achieved in the first one then you let the fans down because you know there is something that is working there. If you try and be too clever, you'll lose the integrity of what was working in the first place but they had to do something better than the pirates turning skeletal in the moonlight. And that I think has definitely been achieved through this character Davy Jones (played by Bill Nighy and his pirates that, like I said, have this grotesque formation from living at the bottom of the ocean which is really interesting. It's cool, because it is within the myth and legend of piracy and Davy Jones and it maintains the integrity of that which is cool. It feels like it is not just flying off into some far fetched realm of Hollywood making another movie for the sake of making more money .It is maintaining some integrity in the sense that it's based in pirate legend.

Q: What did you want to get from playing Will this time around?

A: Listen I am definitely confined in the sense that Will is the poster boy, the guy that gets the girl. But the darker side has definitely taken me into a place where I can have some interesting storyline and feel like I am developing the role. But it is still within the realms of making a pirate movie. Johnny's playing the guy and Geoffrey is the outlandish pirate captain and now Bill Nighy is doing some fantastic work and Chow Yun-Fat brings this whole new thing. Singapore and going into the East gives an amazing new flavour to the (third) movie. So it's really very exciting.

Q: You have become such a public figure, are you still enjoying that or is it becoming a little intrusive?

A: It will never be normal. It will always just feel like it is just something that I just have to get on with. It's a lot of energy coming at you and it's a little bit like “whoa”, you know? Sort of crazy.

Q: It's interesting because Keira is probably going through the same thing and you guys go back a long way don't you? Do you remember the first time you met?

A: Yeah I do, we met at the Ivy. It was so funny because Gore had a dinner for us to get together at the Ivy and I remember we left and she just snuck out and I got like hammered because the Ivy is like one of those places where you get hammered (laughs). I admire her in such a massive way: the choices that she has made, the directors that she has got to work with, the way that she handles herself. I was just looking at her the other day and she is handling a sword, doing this whole sword routine. She's a beautiful woman and you know still like, she's got that kind of ability to sort of rough it with the lads.

Q: She kind of said you first came across each other in London when you were going for auditions.

A: I hadn't really hung out with her . She was working more than me. When I finished drama school, she had already done movies .She had already had star billing. She was making a mark for herself. We did do an audition together. Yeah, we did an audition for a Russian project, that's right. I had forgotten.

Q: What do you do in your free time?

A: I just keep it as normal as possible. I have a dog, I have a great family, I have good friends.

Q: Did you have your dog with you in the Caribbean?

A: Yeah, he is a very well traveled dog. It's very expensive to travel with a dog but he's like my baby.

Q: Where's home?

A: London, yeah. I'll fly in for work but I will never live in LA. London will always be home.

Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise said Tuesday he would be happy to father ten children after he and his fiancee Katie Holmes had their first baby girl.

“I always wanted to be a father. I remember my whole life, I wanted to be a father. So I’m hoping maybe I have 10 children,” he said with laughter at a press conference in Tokyo.

Cruise, 43, also has two adopted children from a previous marriage to actress Nicole Kidman, who is now set to wed country music singer Keith Urban.

Asked how he felt about his new baby, Suri, who was born in April, Cruise said, “Very, very very happy.”

“It was the best Father’s Day,” he said of Sunday, which he spent with his children, and Holmes.

“I think you all know how, what a gift it is, children,” he said.

“I feel the responsibility of that, because they are the future. So I feel so overwhelmed with emotion at times when I look at my children, which I think we all know when you are looking at your own child you love so much.”

Cruise, ranked last week by Forbes magazine as the world’s most powerful celebrity, was in Tokyo to promote “Mission Impossible 3,” which is partially set in Shanghai.

Paris, France :: Protected by a huge blue umbrella, 47-year-old Michael Jackson (dressed in his pajamas?) left Jardin des Plantes, the main botanical garden in France in a wheelchair earlier this month. Bodyguards hugged Michael Jackson's three children (whose faces were covered with masks) on their way out 9-year-old Prince Michael Jackson I, 8-year-old Paris Jackson, and 4-year-old Prince Michael Jackson II.

New Line Cinema has bought the remake rights to the controversial Japanese sci-fi film Battle Royale and set up the project with Neal Moritz and Roy Lee, reports Variety.

The original film, produced by Toie and released in 2000 amid concerns about its violence, is set in an apocalyptic future in which schools are overrun by uncontrolled violence; the government responds by organizing an annual Battle Royale, in which a school class is picked at random and students are pitted against each other on an abandoned island in a game of survival.

Toie also produced a sequel in 2003, Battle Royale II -- Requiem, in which a new class of teen students are forced to battle a rebel group let by a survivor of a previous Battle Royale.

London, UK :: Former Stringfellows girl Carly Krupa, 23, enjoys a night out with pals at
London's Wellington Club. Krupa is dating
actor Johnny Messner.

Iron Man is being slated for a May 2, 2008 release, Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment announced today.

Based on the Marvel comic character, the film will follow the story of billionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark, who sets off on a crusade against the evils of the world when he is injured by one of his own creations. Jon Favreau will direct.

Kevin Feige, president of production for Marvel Studios, said of the announcement: "We're thrilled to be launching the summer 2008 movie season with Iron Man. Marvel has had great success with the first Friday in May - Spider-Man broke records on that first Friday and X2 debuted at the top of the box office charts as well.

"We're looking forward to extending that track record with Iron Man and are extremely pleased with the progress of the script, the production team we are forming and the initial production designs."

Two more actors head for Chester as they join the cast of the Channel 4 soap, Hollyoaks.

Former EastEnders actor Devon Anderson - who played Billy Jackson between 1993 and 1997 - is to play the role of Sonny Valentine, the younger brother of policeman Calvin (played by ex-Dream Team star Ricky Whittle, who joined the soap last month).

Meanwhile, Gimme Gimme Gimme star Brian Bovell - Jez Littlewood in the BBC comedy - will play Sonny's father, Leo.

A spokesperson for the show said: "The Valentines are in for a rough ride in the village when a life-changing event happens just days after they turn up, and their father, Leo, comes to live with them."

The Valentine family will appear on screen for the first time next month.

Graham Coxon has included a Libertines song on his latest single.

'Time For Heroes', which Coxon performed live on Radio 1 earlier this year, will be an addition to the double A-side ‘I Can’t Look At Your Skin / What’s He Got?’.

The single, which will only be available on limited edition 7 inches, is to be released on July 17.

Will Young is set to make his professional theatre debut early next year in Noel Coward's play The Vortex.

The singer will portray Nicky Lancaster, a musician whose girlfriend runs off with his mother's young lover.

Young commented: "I'm really excited to be involved in this project."

Although the experience will be a new one, the star did attend a postgraduate course in performing arts before leaving to pursue his music career. "I'm sure it will be a fairly daunting experience initially, but I want to be able to grow and learn more in this field so I'll continue to enjoy what I do and also offer something new to my fans," he added.

Director Jo Combes spoke glowingly of the star, saying: "Will did a stunning audition, and I am really excited about what he will bring to the character and the production."

Staged at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, the production's run will begin on January 17, 2007.

Sean "Diddy" Combs, rock disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer and Barbara Walters have something in common: They will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Recipients for 2007 were announced Friday by Walk of Fame committee chairman Johnny Grant. "It's a privilege to honor these performers," he said.

The committee said it had reviewed more than 200 nominations to select next year's 23 honorees.

The list of recipients, as ratified by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce board of directors, also includes Michael Caine, Matt Damon, Lauren Shuler Donner, Jamie Foxx, John Goodman, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Altman, Erik Estrada, Kiefer Sutherland, Jerry Stiller, Dick Wolf, Mariah Carey, The Doors, Crystal Gayle, Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Shania Twain, Tim Rice, Lily Tomlin and Stu Nahan.

Nicole Kidman put her wedding preparations on hold to visit sick kids at the Sydney Children's Hospital.

Accompanied by her own two children and mother Janelle, Kidman spent more than two hours visiting patients in the hospital's oncology, haematology and neurology wards.

Five-year-old burns and car accident survivor Sophie Delezio was also one of the patients Kidman spent time with, just three days before her Sydney wedding to country music star Keith Urban.

The actress was mobbed by media and fans outside the hospital but became concerned about the crush she was causing.

"If everyone can just not get too dangerous," she said at one stage.

Kidman has long been a supporter and official ambassador for the Sydney Children's Hospital, visiting patients there whenever she is in Sydney.

She's also rumoured to have asked guests at her wedding on Sunday to provide donations to the hospital and other charities instead of giving her presents.

"I was stunned she came in today," said Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation chief executive Elizabeth Crundall.

"To actually take the time out from her own wedding for a couple of hours was stunning, extraordinary and wonderful."

Crundall said Kidman hugged Sophie Delezio when the pair met by chance in one of the hospital corridors.

"Sophie showed Nicole her new hot pink boots," she said.

"Sophie was in for a dressings change. It was magic."

Kidman's children, Isabella, 13, and Connor, 11, today flew into Sydney in a private jet from Tokyo, where father Tom Cruise has been promoting his latest film, Mission Impossible III.

They were the last immediate family members to arrive for the wedding, with Urban's parents flying in on Wednesday.

Isabella and Connor were picked up at Sydney Airport by Kidman's security staff in a black Mercedes and sat in the back seat hidden behind tinted windows.

Kidman, 39, will marry Urban, 38, on Sunday at the Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel, a gothic-style sandstone Catholic church, in St Patrick's estate, overlooking the ocean at Manly.

A large marquee has been erected at the estate, where the reception is expected to take place on Sunday afternoon.

Father Paul Coleman will preside over the service but has been asked not to talk to the media about the wedding.

"They have just asked me not to give any more interviews," said Father Coleman.

"I am loath to say anything more and I have always tried to honour the family's wishes."

Kidman's sister Antonia and cousin Angela are expected to perform bridesmaid duties on the big day and father Antony will walk the Oscar winner down the aisle as her family and friends watch on.

High-profile guests tipped to attend include actors Naomi Watts, Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman, director Baz Luhrmann and media mogul Rupert Murdoch and wife Wendi Deng.

Hulk Hogan has moved his family to Miami Beach and put his mansion near Tampa on the market for a whopping $25 million.

The pro wrestler-actor, aka Terry Bollea, and his wife, Linda, moved last month to a new $12 million bayfront estate on Miami Beach so their children, Brooke, 18, and Nick, 15, could pursue singing and acting careers.

Now the 17,000-square-foot French-style Belleair mansion, familiar to fans of the family's VH1 reality TV series, "Hogan Knows Best," is on the market.

The home has seven fireplaces, 2.3-acre grounds overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway and Gulf of Mexico, a guesthouse, swimming pool, waterfall and four-car garage.

"You can get lost in it," said Marcia Ellis of Coldwell Banker, who sold the Belleair property to the family 14 years ago and has listed it again.

Hogan still owns a more modest place on Clearwater Beach and a home in Los Angeles that is on the market for $5.9 million.

"I've got to downscale," he told The Miami Herald recently. "We'll head toward Miami like the Beverly Hillbillies."

EMINEM has been battling a severe bout of depression, it was revealed yesterday.

The rapper fell ill after his best friend was shot dead, Then he got divorced from wife Kim for the second time.

Eminem's spokesman Dennis Dennehy said the singer was getting better with the help of anti-depressants.

The star, 33, slumped into his low mood more than two months ago, when his former D12 bandmate Proof died after being blasted with a gun in the head.

And the split from his wife came after a remarriage that lasted just 82 days.

Dennehy told the New York Daily News: "Obviously he's grieving. He is depressed as anyone would be if they lost someone that close.

"But Eminem had said he was taking some time off before this happened. This is his downtime."

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Grammy-winning rapper Eminem continued divorce proceedings with his wife, Kimberley Mathers, in a private hearing Thursday. Details of the meeting were not disclosed.

Kimberley Mathers, who is seeking financial support, attorney fees and joint custody of the couple's 10-year-old daughter, Hailie Jade Scott, was seen being escorted out of the building by a sheriff's deputy.

Her lawyer, Michael J. Smith, declined to comment. A message seeking comment was left Thursday with Eminem's attorney, Harvey Hauer.

Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, was not seen by reporters at the courthouse, but was present for the hour-long meeting before Court Referee David Elias, court officer Mark Mileski said.

Eminem filed for divorce April 5, 82 days after the couple remarried.

The 33-year-old rapper remarried Kimberley Mathers in Rochester on Jan. 14, a month after the couple announced they were getting back together.

Their first marriage lasted from 1999 to 2001.

Macomb County Circuit Judge Antonio Viviano, who originally was scheduled to preside over Thursday's hearing, had set a deadline of Aug. 25 for completion of depositions, interrogatories, pension evaluations and other matters.

A settlement conference is scheduled for Sept. 19.

Paris Hilton insists that she's not as big a party girl as everyone thinks she is, according to a new interview. "I've never danced on a table in my life," she says, and adds being a lodging heiress shouldn't make people think she can't sing: "Just because my last name's Hilton doesn't mean I can't be talented."

The platinum-haired princess also suggests that she's putting out her new album – called, creatively enough, "Paris" – because she loves "to entertain people...I love to be onstage and I love my music. So I'm not even thinking about the money or anything. It's just all about the music."

Paris also reveals that she started out with a rock concept for the album but says, "I like the rock music, but I like the club music more, so I just threw all those songs away." The album, with 11 tracks with titles such as "Jealousy," "Screwed," ""Fightin' Over Me," and "Turn You On," drops August 8.

Kylie Minogue will complete the world tour she called off a year ago after being diagnosed with breast cancer with a series of concerts in Australia later this year, her Australian tour manager said Thursday.

The shock diagnosis interrupted the Australian-born star's biggest global tour, and her return to the stage after undergoing cancer treatment has been highly anticipated in her home country and her longtime base in London.

Frontier Touring Company managing director Michael Gudinski popped a champagne cork at a media event to announce the Australian shows, saying he had just returned from meetings with Kylie in London.

"She's definitely through the worst of everything, she's so determined and she can't wait to see you all," Gudinski said. "Obviously she's still got a few mountains to climb, but we're very, very confident that the tour will be going ahead in November."

Kylie, a 2004 Grammy award winner, had completed dates on her "The Showgirl Tour" in Europe and was heading to Australia for homecoming concerts when she was diagnosed with cancer in May last year.

She underwent surgery to remove a lump from her breast and is reportedly still undergoing cancer treatment.

Gudinski said the Nov. 11-Dec. 17 concert series in Australia's state capitals would be renamed the "Showgirl Homecoming" tour and that Kylie's work commitments would be lighter because of her illness.

"We're going to take as much pressure as we can," off her, he said.