Johnny Depp Showed Up at a School Dressed as Jack Sparrow After a 9-Year-Old Asked for Help With a "Mutiny" Against Her Teachers

In October 2010, Johnny Depp was filming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at the Old Naval College in Greenwich, London. A few streets away, a 9-year-old girl named Beatrice Delap had an idea.

The Letter

Beatrice, a student at Meridian Primary School, wrote a letter addressed to Captain Jack Sparrow himself. The message was direct: "We are a bunch of budding young pirates and we're having trouble mutinying against the teachers!"

The letter made its way from the school to the film set. What happened next was something nobody at the school expected.

Captain Jack Arrives

With just ten minutes' notice, two blacked-out cars swept through the school gates. Out stepped Johnny Depp — in full Jack Sparrow costume — accompanied by several other cast members, all dressed as pirates.

Depp stayed completely in character. He performed pirate songs and dances with the children during a 15-minute visit that left the school in a state of delighted chaos.

As for the mutiny? Depp had some characteristically Jack Sparrow advice for young Beatrice: "Maybe we shouldn't mutiny today 'cos there are police outside monitoring me."

A Pattern of Kindness

The Greenwich visit was part of a broader pattern. Depp was well known during the Pirates era for visiting children's hospitals in full costume, making surprise appearances for young fans, and staying in character for hours at a time. For one afternoon in Greenwich, a 9-year-old girl learned that sometimes, if you write to a pirate, the pirate shows up.