On Set: 'Pirates 4' - Astrid Berges-Frisbey

Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley were both unknown quantities when director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer cast them in 2003's Pirates Of The Caribbean. The Brits are now big stars, and Bruckheimer and new director Rob Marshall have found two more potential A-listers for On Stranger Tides: Sam Claflin and the exotically-named Astrid Berges-Frisbey.

Born in Barcelona to French-American and Catalan parents, Berges-Frisbey (who's now based in Paris) landed the role of mermaid Syrena after a whirlwind of auditions in France, Hollywood and the UK. The striking 24-year-old has already mastered three languages - Spanish, Catalan and French - and now she's having to learn English as she navigates through an epic blockbuster. The enormity of the production only hit her when filming began. "When I flew to Hawaii I really realised all that it was to be part of a movie like Pirates Of The Caribbean. Wow! Unbelievable. I still can't believe it," she says.

"She's not a typical mermaid," Berges-Frisbey notes of Syrena. "It's not the common mermaid people have seen in other movies. It's not the pretty girl with a tail and her legs together, it's more kind of a woman-fish. When the mermaids are swimming it's completely a work of CGI to create the movement - not like two legs moving, more like a fish moving." These mythical aquatic creatures will be "quite dangerous, sometimes they're more like monsters," she explains.

The actress, who watched the first Pirates at the cinema with her family, reveals that she met Johnny Depp for the first time in-costume as Jack Sparrow. "It was one of the biggest surprises I had when I arrived in Hawaii, to see Kevin McNally and Johnny having fun," she says. "It was the first day and they love their parts so much. I've never seen actors loving their parts and being happy to be in a story like that."

The large-scale sets and life-size pirate ships have made her feel like a kid again, and when the language barrier becomes too much she has the Spanish-speaking Cruz as an on-set pal. Come May, Berges-Fisbey will be spotted with Depp's Captain Jack, Cruz's Angelica, Ian McShane's Blackbeard and Sam Claflin's Philip on the big screen. They travel in a group for this latest adventure, with the promise of romance blossoming between Syrena and Philip and, maybe, Jack and Angelica.

Berges-Fisbey relates a conversation she had with Depp, which perhaps reveals just how much the wily sea captain means to him. "I remember I asked Johnny: 'It must be incredible to play a part for eight years. You must know Jack Sparrow as a brother?' He said, 'It's wonderful to play Jack Sparrow every time, it's a pleasure and I need it. I really need it.' I wasn't expecting that."

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens in cinemas on May 18, 2011.

Tomorrow: Designing On Stranger Tides with John Myhre and Penny Rose

> Sam Claflin



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