Johnny Depp Dons Capt. Jack Costume for Kids - CBS News

(CBS)  When you were a kid, did you ever write to your favorite movie star asking him or her to hang out? Well imagine one girl's surprise when her fan letter was answered - with a personal, and very spontaneous, visit. It happened in England, when actor Johnny Depp decided to thrill one young fan.

It was a day to always remember - for a group of school kids in London - when actor Johnny Depp paid them a surprise visit.

It all began when 9-year-old Bea Delap wrote a letter to Depp's "Pirates of the Caribbean" alter-ego, Capt. Jack Sparrow.

Photos: Johnny Depp

She wrote, "Captain Sparrow, We are all a bunch of budding young pirates ... We're having trouble mutinying against our teachers!"

Bea told CBS News, "It was amazing. It was such a long shot, and he came!"

Depp, who was shooting the fourth "Pirates" movie just down the road from Delap's school, thought he'd swing by - much to the delight of Bea and her classmates.

Bea recalled, "He called me out to the front, and he hugged me!"

It was all posted on YouTube.

Depp can be seen in the video, in character, saying, "We shall take over the school, and we shall eat nothing but candy, and all of our teeth will fall out."

Kirstin Benson, editor of Hollywoodlife.com, said, "This is classic Johnny...and it's a complete fairy tale - who writes to a celebrity and then has them show up? And she didn't expect it at all. It was completely spontaneous, it was great!"

It was the thrill of a lifetime for Bea - and she has advice for other kids hoping to meet their favorite star:

"If you don't give it a try, you'll never know," she said. "Because we thought it was never going to happen. But if we hadn't tried, we'd never have known."

Hill added, "Interestingly, apparently, Delap said at one point Johnny Depp
said, 'You may want to lay off the mutiny because police outside are following me.'

"One of the teachers told the Associated Press at this point and perhaps thanks to Capt. Jack Sparrow, plans for a mutiny."

And what if Bea had missed school that day?

Hill said it is good that she was there because apparently had only about 10 minutes' notice that Depp was coming.

Hill saids, "It is not even, as we understand it, the school could have called and said, 'Make sure she's here tomorrow.'"

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