It's a pirate's life for Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp plays Captain Jack Sparrow in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies.

LOS ANGELES - A life with no bounds. A freewheeling career. It's a pirate's life for actor Johnny Depp, both inside and outside of Hollywood.

Depp, 43, is known for quirky roles in movies like "Ed Wood" and "Edward Scissorhands." Perhaps his best-loved part is flamboyant Capt. Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. The newest version, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," hits NZ theaters on Thursday.

For the new film, Depp said that stepping back into Capt. Jack's boots was as natural as everyday life.

"It was funny just simply going through that process again" of getting back into the character," Depp told reporters recently. "Going through make-up and hair and buckling myself into the costume ... just felt so natural and normal."

A pirate is rugged and fearless, but in 2003's original "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," Depp's Capt. Jack bordered on swishy, even slightly effeminate.

The actor has said his style of nautical ne'er-do-well mixed the rock 'n' roll swagger of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards with the romantic longing of cartoon skunk Pepe LePew, but Capt. Jack was still as freewheeling as any pirate could be.

Audiences loved him. While the handsome actor had enjoyed a long career starting with the 1980s TV drama "21 Jump Street," only one of his films over the next decade was a blockbuster, 1999's "Sleepy Hollow."

"Curse of the Black Pearl" changed that. It grossed $654 million worldwide and earned Depp an Oscar nomination -- an honor that had eluded him until then, despite critical success in movies such as "What's Eating Gilbert Grape."

"I think someone somewhere miscounted. I was very surprised. I'm still surprised ... It was never even in the deepest darkest recesses of my brain or heart to go for that kind of thing," Depp said.

Early in his career, Depp was known for dating beautiful starlets and trashing hotel rooms. But in recent years, he has settled down with model Vanessa Paradis and they are raising their two children between homes in France and Los Angeles.

Fatherhood and maturity seem to have mellowed his attitude toward Hollywood's star-making machinery. During his "Jump Street" teen idol heyday, Depp felt "forced into the role of product," more so than an actor known for his craft. Now, Capt. Jack can be seen on cereal boxes.

Still, he said that box office hits have not changed his attitude toward work and the roles he takes. He still injects his own brand of quirkiness into each part he plays.

"It's not going to make me change my approach to the work," he said, adding that with Capt. Jack, "I still did the same thing that I always did."

- REUTERS/VNU