It was a sultry night in Dublin and the turquoise waters of the Caribbean looked almost real. Guests at the Irish première of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl battened down the hatches at Dublin's UGC Cinema and prepared to be transported to a cooler place via the Disney-inspired film.
Londoner Keira Knightley, the female lead in the action-packed blockbuster, attended the screening. The young star (18) plays the beautiful Elizabeth Swann.
She says of her co-star, "Orlando \ is a complete sweetheart and I got to kiss him", while Johnny Depp "is a real inspiration, he's prepared to take a risk. He's one of the most talented actors around".
Her rise to fame, following her role in Bend it like Beckham, happened as a result of "just one thing after another", she said, "I've been terribly, terribly lucky.". After King Arthur, in which she plays Queen Guinevere, and which is currently being filmed in Co Wicklow, she'll be working on a movie called Love Actually, written by Richard Curtis, of Four Weddings and a Funeral fame, when he makes his directorial debut.
The film's costume designer, Penny Rose, who is now working on King Arthur, also attended. Her latest designs for the Arthurian saga, which is set in 500 AD, are for peasants, knights, saxons, Celts and Picts, she said. Another King Arthur star, Clive Owen also came along. TV3's Martin King left his partner, Jenny McCarthy with their six-week-old baby, Alexander John, at home, to be MC for the night.
Others at the opening were Corkman Tony Fitzpatrick, from Carlton Screen Advertising, who got into the pirating spirit in his black breeches and a spotted bandana, and his colleagues Geraldine Brennan, of South Africa, Maria Johansson, from Sweden and Rachael Maher from Clondalkin also took to the party theme. Darren Smith, of Windmill Lane Studios, singer Brian Ormond, from Clondalkin, who is taking part in UTV's Pop Idol tonight, Eurovision singer Mickey Joe Harte (who is off to sing at a charity gig in New York next month) and his wife, Louise, were also there.
Intrepid party-goers then trooped off to The Vaults at Harbour Master Place for a late night.