Johnny Depp recruited Paul McCartney onto 'Pirates' by text message

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Johnny Depp recruited Paul McCartney onto 'Pirates' by text message
Bryan Alexander , USA TODAY
Published  May 19, 2017




Johnny Depp might be the oddest bird in Hollywood, but he also has a highly enviable rock Rolodex on his iPhone.

Depp dipped deep into his contacts to pull Paul McCartney onto Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales via text message when the filmmakers needed a pirate rocker.

McCartney's cameo is one of the highlights of the fifth Pirates installment (opening Friday), which sees the return of Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow and which celebrated its Hollywood premiere on Thursday night.


Johnny Depp, also known as Captain Jack Sparrow, led the premiere of Disney's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Thursday night.  Rich Fury, Getty Images

Pirates co-director Espen Sandberg said Thursday that the filmmakers had hoped to bring Keith Richards back onto the new film after the Rolling Stones rocker played Depp's father Captain Teague in 2007's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and 2011's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

But Richards was not able to appear in Dead Men Tell No Tales due to "touring commitments," according to Sandberg.

"So we needed another rocker and on top of our list was Paul McCartney," Sandberg told USA TODAY. "And Johnny said, 'Well, I have his number.'  And of course Johnny has Paul McCartney's number. So he started texting him. And it went back and forth. And then (Paul) said yes. So we were super-happy."


Paul McCartney gave a thumbs up to Johnny Depp. (Photo: Ken Ishii, Getty Images)

"It was fun," added co-director Joachim Ronning. "And there we went."

Depp might look like he's not trying. "But he works constantly for the movie," said Sandberg.




Depp was definitely not overly-working the premiere on Thursday night. He posed for pictures and then was pushed through the aqua-carpet by his massive security detail.


Keith Richards is Captain Teague (Photo: Disney Enterprises)