News Briefs

- Chortle.co.uk reports Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen is in talks to appear as Signor Adolfo Pirelli in Tim Burton’s upcoming Sweeney Todd movie.

- CBS5.com reports on Jessica Simpson’s embarrassing confession: “I made a fool out of myself in front of Johnny Depp,” she said. “Dane Cook and I hosted the Teen Choice Awards and Johnny Depp made this surprise appearance and I was struck. I said all the wrong things and I ended up saying, ‘Okay, I’m gonna shut up now and walk away.’ I said it right to his face and it was so embarrassing.”

- The Melbourne Herald has an interview with Geoffrey Rush (Captain Barbossa), in which he discusses the third movie and Keith Richards’ cameo:

Rush is speaking from Los Angeles, where he is putting the finishing touches on the third and final instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

“Actually, finishing touches is a bit of an understatement,” he laughs. “We’re sort of filming the grand finale of the great trilogy where 12 plots all converge on one massive, almost mythological, action sequence. It’s quite extraordinary and bigger than Ben-Hur.

“The scene we’re shooting is a global pirate summit, and I can’t say much because (producer) Jerry Bruckheimer might kill me.”

The production, called At World’s End, made the news recently, thanks to claims Rolling Stone Keith Richards, shooting a cameo as Jack Sparrow’s father, was drunk on the set.

Rush is of no help one way or the other in laying the story to rest.

“I think with Keith you get such an excitable persona you’re not quite sure where he’s at,” Rush says.

“The man I met on set was a very playful, excitable kid . . . this completely eccentric character turns up and plays by totally different rules to the slightly more manicured actors who turn up, so that was very, very thrilling.”

Johnny Depp, who famously modelled the Jack Sparrow character after Richards, knew who was boss, Rush says.

“He’s the only person in the whole trilogy of films who can put Jack Sparrow in his place, and anyone who can put Johnny Depp in his place is a pretty cool guy.”

Though the first Pirates movie was a hit with critics and audiences, the second, Dead Man’s Chest, was notable for the fact the reviews were so bad — and the box office so utterly, utterly enormous.

“There was something in the audience saying, ‘Whatever is going on, we want to acknowledge our love of Jack Sparrow and the pirate world’,” Rush says.

“And other films became runaway hits despite what any critics think. Critics hated Citizen Kane when it came out.”

- TMZ.com reports Johnny Depp is a fan of Uncle Kimono, a clothing line designed by fellow actor John Malkovich. A portion of sales from Malkovich’s clothing line benefits the performing arts and a selected group of playhouses across the world.