Johnny Depp surprises London students with a visit from Capt. Jack Sparrow

With only about 10 minutes notice to the school, Johnny Depp jumped on deck at Meridian Primary School, surprising 9-year-old "budding pirate" Beatrice Delap and her classmates with a 15-minute visit from Capt. Jack Sparrow.

Depp -- who is filming "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" near the Greenwich, London, school at the 17th-century seafaring center the Old Naval College -- stopped by Wednesday in response to a letter Bea had written to Sparrow on behalf of her fellow students, asking for a little help.

"Normally we're a right handful," she wrote, "but we're having trouble mutinying against the teachers." In classes, Meridian students are encouraged to write letters to a real audience, and Bea wrote hers after a visit to the film set.

In costume with a few crew members at his side, Depp called Bea out of the audience at an ...

impromptu assembly and gave her a hug. He sang and danced, and the students sang their own pirate song, according to the school's website, which has a few more pictures.

Bea's advice to fellow fans: You'll never know if that star will show up unless you write that letter and give it a try. And about that mutiny? Depp told the kids that the police outside monitoring him probably made it a bad day to take over.

-- Christie D'Zurilla

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Photo: As Capt. Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp holds a letter to the captain from 9-year-old Bea Delap, inviting him to visit her school and offer some advice. On Oct. 6, 2010, he did just that. Credit: Meridian Primary School / Associated Press