Mermaids and more!

Astrid Bergès-Frisbey was a teenager when she saw the first film of the successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, The Curse of the Black Pearl, when Johnny Depp made his debut as the unforgettable Captain Jack Sparrow.
Fast-forward eight years and the young French-Spanish actress is understandably delighted to be an integral part of that very franchise where she plays Syrena, the mermaid in Walt Disney Pictures’ Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
“It wasn’t until I was on my way to Hawaii to start work on Pirates that it really sank in and I suddenly realised what it meant to be part of such a huge production. It felt unbelievable and I still can’t believe it,” laughs Astrid. “I remember when I came for an audition and saw the costume room with all of Johnny Depp’s costumes, wigs, et al. And I went, ‘Wow! That’s Captain Jack Sparrow!’ Johnny keeps in character when he’s on set as Jack. I’ve seen lots of his movies since I was a teenager and it was wonderful to meet and work with him. It’s like when you first see the pirate ship — it’s incredible and very special. It’s a real ship!” she says.
“Astrid’s character is a mermaid, who spends a long time with the pirates because they need her. “She has a special relationship with Philip, played by Sam Claflin. She’s very interesting because she’s a mix between a creature and a human. I spent a lot of time filming in water. I didn’t really have a physical mermaid’s tail because the special effects would take care of that. But I did have a special costume, which changed depending on what I had to do — whether I was completely in water or only half submerged. The mermaids talk and sometimes we take human form. We’re mysterious and magical creatures. And can be quite dangerous, too!” says Astrid.
According to Penelope Cruz who plays Angelica, everyone on set was enamoured with the mermaids, who play an important part. “Everybody wants to see mermaids. We all fantasise how mermaids would be if they were real,” says Cruz. “And while the mermaids in this movie are beautiful, they’re also dangerous.
Everybody wanted to see the girls, the mermaids, and how they’d look at the end after all the special effects were finished. Now that I’ve seen it, it’s really beautiful — very attractive, sexy, and mysterious,” she says.
In addition to Astrid’s Syrena, other mermaids came in the form of seven gorgeous models and actresses (including Australia’s superstar Gemma Ward as the alluring Tamara) and a talented team of 22 synchronised swimmers — some of them Olympic competitors in Beijing in 2008.