Orlando Bloom, can you talk about working again with Stellan Skarsgard, who again plays Will Turner's ill-fated father?

Bloom: He's an amazing actor. I always felt quite fortunate to have him as my father onscreen. He's a super lovely man as well. He's just a great guy all around, so effortless.You must be glad you don't have to wear the makeup he does.

Bloom: I'm grateful for that. I mean, Stellan was in the chair for six hours every morning, which makes for a very long day. So, yeah, I felt very fortunate not to have to go through that.How was it working again with Verbinski?

Bloom: It's pretty much the same. I mean, he's a great guy. He's a really funny, easygoing kind of guy. He's got a great sense of humor, and he's got amazing energy. You know, he is just driven and has an incredible vision for these films. So we've really enjoyed working together.How do you keep your energy up every day on these movies?

Bloom: I suppose just because it's very fun. I mean, we're making pirate movies! It's a lot of fun, and I've really enjoyed it, so ... yeah, it's been good.How might you apply the pirate code to your own life?

Bloom: The pirate code is about freedom. Freedom of spirit and soul. And this is something that I definitely am embracing.Talk about the romance between Will and Elizabeth.

Bloom: I can't really give too much away on that, but I'm amazed at how much the fans have embraced this film, and it's been awesome to see how they've really taken ownership of it. And it's sort of an ensemble film where the kids sort of see how all the characters kind of go on a ride. So [you] really feel like you're going to have to wait and see [how the romance evolves]. But there's a sense of completion that I think will be very satisfying.

Gore Verbinski, this sequel begins on a very somber mood.

Verbinski: It's because the world is not the same without Jack. You know, it seemed like it was important to be narratively consistent as to why it is important to get him back. You know, what is it? And we're establishing a new villain in the movie, which is no longer Davy Jones. It's corporate philosophy that has set the stakes for the film. So I think it's important for this film to have those obstacles to overcome.Each movie begins with an innovative introduction of Jack.

Verbinski: Once you have the idea, you just go for it. That's really the blank page. For the first one, [writers] Ted [Elliott] and Terry [Rossio] wrote how Jack enters in his boat, and we decided to make that boat sinking as he steps off it. In the second one, Ted had the idea for the coffin, which I thought was great. And this time around, I just didn't want to do that. ... We went in a completely different direction. It came out of a really late session with Johnny one night, where we were like, "We don't want to pop out of a cake," you know? We're done. We have go completely somewhere else. And it was fun.What about working with Keith Richards, who plays a pirate who may or may not be Jack Sparrow's dad?

Verbinski: Well, he's playing a pirate. So you just try to make him feel comfortable and try to capture Keith. He's just a completely unique human being. There is nobody else like him. So we adapted our filming style to suit Keith.Bill Nighy, you have to emote with basically nothing but your eyes, as the rest of your face gets replaced with Davy Jones' CG tentacles.

Nighy: Given the fact that, you know, you're going to be restricted in such a way that you know your eyes are going to be your major outlet, you do tend to invest as much of the performance in them as you can. And so you just try and summon up the requisite feeling in order to do that. The people who made the creature are so brilliant that I am more than well-served by them. I mean, the creature is so successful just in terms of being a powerful, unique kind of figure, but also in terms of telling the story. They were very, very clever at informing the creature with whatever performance I did on the set, so I was lucky that way.You have one very emotional scene with Naomie Harris, who plays the witch Tia Dalma.

Nighy: Yeah, I was very pleased about that scene, and it was wonderful to work with Naomie Harris on it. She's a wonderful girl, deeply gifted. And for a squid to get a love scene of any kind, it's pretty unexpected, and we were very grateful.How do you juggle intense action scenes with meaningful, plot-advancing dialogue?

Nighy: Well, that is the achievement of Gore Verbinski, the director, largely. And of course all people involved in the stunts. They have the fight people, who are the best in the world. And writers: you know, it's all written down, and it's not only a thrilling battle scene or fight scene, it also tells the story. The story progresses through it. It's meticulously worked out: every single movement, every facial expression, and certainly every thrust [of the sword] are absolutely, perfectly choreographed, and it's a major achievement. In terms of fight scenes, you have to do it that way just from a safety standpoint. But I was pretty free in other ways. In the acting stakes, I was pretty much free, once we'd established, in the second movie, the general tone and the size of the performance for the creature. ... It was quite liberating, actually, to be able to deliver a performance of that size, because normally people would say, "Stop that."How was it having full-scale replica ships on the water as the set?

Nighy: Oh, it's absolutely wonderful. And my background is mostly independent British movies, low-budgeted movies, so to drive in a pickup in the Caribbean to the ocean and to see three beautifully achieved galleons, each [of] which costs somewhere in the region of, I don’t know, $10 to 15 million, floating on the Caribbean sea in the night, surrounded by barges which have rain machines on cranes, and then further barges which have huge—the size of houses—Chinese lanterns lighting everything ... well, you drive toward that, and you think, "Well, I'd better be good." Because these people are serious.