Ian McShane: ‘Pirates beard was like a dead cat’

Ian McShane thought his beard on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ was like a “dead cat”.

The British star portrays fearsome pirate Blackbeard in the fourth instalment of the 'Pirates' franchise - alongside Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz - and while he loved the shoot, he did not mind getting rid of the cumbersome facial hair at the end of the day.

He said: “It was a pleasure to shoot it. I was only glad it finished so I could get rid of the beard!”

“It was the heaviest thing – it was like having a dead cat around my face! It was made in three or four pieces and held on by magnets and God knows what else. It took an hour and a half to put on every day.

"It was sort of spectacular. He was a real biker pirate – it’s all black leather.”

The 68-year-old star also stars in forthcoming project ‘Jack the Giant Killer’ with Nicholas Hoult and Ewan McGregor, and he is pleased to be able to do family friendly films.

He told Total Film: “I guess now with ‘Pirates’ and my new film, ‘Jack the Giant Killer’, I’ll have to do something serious next time. It’s actually been nice, the last couple of years, to be able to do films that I can show to the grandchildren.”