Glad to be a pirate of the Caribbean

BEXHILL may have been cold and overcast for much of the week.

But actor Jonathan Linsley is home from the Bahamas for a couple of weeks - and he's thrilled to be here.

He has been filming the sequels to Pirates Of The Caribbean, starring Johnny Depp (as Jack Sparrow), Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly and Geoffrey Rush.

Jonathan is playing a character called Ogilvy, one of a band of ghostly pirates, and has been working extensively on ship scenes, lashed by wind and rain.

"I am delighted to be back in Bexhill," he said. "It's great."

He says he has missed home comforts such as a proper cup of tea and being able to nip down the shops.

"The Bahamas is a very boring place to be honest, very dull unless you are into swimming and snorkelling and all that.

"It is a very poor country, geared up for the tourists. After six weeks you have been to every restaurant and you have seen every pub. There are ex-pats living out there, all bored but trapped by the tax thing because they don't pay any tax there. They are all talking about what a good hurricane they had.

"Its all a bit depressing really. The poor people of the Bahamas have lost everything on their end of the country."

Having been reunited with wife Frances, Jonathan was quick to visit the Gateway Club in Station Road on Monday night.

"It was just so nice to be back. You get these big hugs and pleased-to-see-you's, and this big generous spirit - it's nice to be welcomed backs and loved and stuff."

He spoke about his involvement with the Gateway Club to the Disney publicist of Pirates Of the Caribbean, and as a result has signed photographs of the movie's major stars which he will soon donate to the club.

His work on the film has so far all been at sea.

"We were doing all this miserable stuff on The Flying Dutchman. Basically, every time we film we are on this ghost ship so it's miserable, always raining, always wet and gloomy, dark and horrible. We are always pulling ropes and being whipped.

"Basically you stand in heavy rain while being filmed. They say - rain coming! and then you hear this hissing sound as the pumps start working, then you are all standing in the biggest monsoon you have ever been in. You get all wrinkly fingers and wrinkly feet, but now they have given us wet suits to wear under out costumes."

He understands that there may be two or three films more in the future because Johnny Depp enjoys playing Jack Sparrow so much. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has said there is no reason not to do more. Then there is always the rumour that Keith Richards will make an appearance as Jack's dad.

Jonathan's experience on the movies has been a good one: "Everybody is in the same boat, they are all working on the film and just getting on with it. We all get on very well, actually. Funnily enough there are only two American actors - everyone else is English.

"Of course, they all have all worked together before."

"I am still enjoying the glamour of it. When we got evacuated to Los Angeles because of the hurricane, they stuck us in a hotel called The Mondrian, which is where all the stars stay.

"I looked it up on the internet and it said this was the most pretentious hotel in LA and that you have to be a megastar to get into the bar. Will Young was staying down the corridor from me, he was there promoting his new single and surrounded by entourage.

"It was very nice to be in this hotel with people in their suits and headsets and microphones.

"That sort of stuff is glamourous. You go from the chartered plane and get into the stretch limo and they take you to the hotel. You suddenly feel very grand. But then you think about going to work and standing there in the pouring rain, and it isn't that grand really. The juxtaposition is quite startling."

Back in the Bahamas, Jonathan experienced the drama of a fire in his hotel, with safety measures leaving a lot to be desired.

Since then there have been other problems such as theft from rooms, but it's the day-to-day life of the island which leaves him unsettled.

"It's very expensive there because everything is imported. A bag of salad we would buy here for 99p is about 3 there. If you buy a two-litre carton of milk here it costs about 1.25, but there its six dollars fifty, which is about 3.25 for a carton of milk. These are the prices they charge tourists, but when you go to supermarkets the locals pay the same price.

"Fruit and veg is in short supply, so they import a lot. For instance, all the watermelon comes from Spain. The wages are not high, so of course they are desperate to make some money out of tourists and out of our film.

"If I had to be there and live on 100 dollars a week wages, I don't think I would survive."