Paul McCartney’s unexpected appearance on the big screen

The Beatles are no stranger to the limelight, with the band being one of the biggest names in showbiz for over 60 years.

However, one faucet of show business not typically linked with the Fab Four is the silver screen. Despite this, Beatles legend Paul McCartney made a surprising cameo in a blockbuster film in 2017.

Appearing alongside stars such as Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, Sir Paul appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tell No Tales. McCartney actually appears as protagonist Jack Sparrow’s uncle- also named Jack.

The series is no stranger to featuring rock stars- with Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards previously starring as Jack Sparrow’s dad. Living up to his musical abilities- Sir Paul’s character can be heard singing a sea shanty in the film.

Entertainment Weekly explained how casting Paul came about, in an interview with the film’s directors Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning in 2017.

Sandberg said: “Johnny, of course, has his phone number, as you do, I don’t know what kind of club these people are a member of, but he had the phone number, so he said, ‘You know, I’ll text him! No problem.’

“So he did! He just texted Sir Paul, and Sir Paul texted back. And it went a little back and forth, and their lingo got more and more pirate-y, and it was like, well, this is going to happen!”