Braving the sweltering summer heat, a crowd of thousands gathered in Leicester Square to witness the spectacle of the Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest premiere. The film's stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley were in attendance, alongside the mainly British supporting cast and a slew of A-list guests, from singer Ian Brown to the reclusive novelist Salman Rushdie and the cast of TVs Lost. 6 Degrees set up camp at the red carpet to talk to some of the film's cast:

Keira Knightley talked to us about her swashbuckling heroine, Elizabeth Swann:

 "I wanted more action. That's what I really wanted for the first film. It's fantastic. I was desperate to have swordfights all the way through, and they actually gave me one in the second film. I think if you're doing an action film you should do as much of the action as possible."

Knightley, dressed in a stunning gold Gucci dress and vintage Cartier jewellery, looked every inch the movie star.

Next up, fellow Brit actor Kevin McNally, who plays Captain Jack's right hand man Gibbs:

"In the first film I thought every time a fight broke out I was going to go downstairs and get drunk. But we soon found out we were always outnumbered, so I was always called on to go and kick some butt. The end of this film definitely is a 'to be continued' and it's going to make you really really want to see the next instalment."

Jack Davenport also returns to the proceedings, reprising his role as Norrington:

"He's kind of lost the plot slightly. He was a bit uptight the first time round. There's nothing like losing everything to loosen you up ever so slightly."

As well as some familiar faces from the past, Dead Man's Chest features some new characters. Stellan Skarsgard plays Will Turner's father, Bootstrap Bill Turner. What was it like being asked to join the cast of one of Hollywood's biggest blockbuster franchises?

"I saw the first one and I found that it was something as rare as a character driven Hollywood blockbuster movie. You saw a lot of actors having a lot of fun in front of the camera and you wanted to be part of it."

Skarsgard was less enamoured with the gruelling make up process he had to undergo, which took 4 ½ hrs to put on and a further 1 ½ hrs to take off.

Comedy favourite Mackenzie Crook reprises his role as Raggetti, the pirate with a rogue eye that refuses to stay in its socket:

"The chance to be in a trilogy is just an actor's dream. It's the sort of film that kids will watch over and over. People have been drawing parallels with this and Star Wars and they were saying I'm C3P0 of all people."

Surely there are worst things to be compared with?

"Yeah, but the campness." Crook winces.

The seemingly ubiquitous Bill Nighy steals the show in Dead Man's Chest, as the cursed Davy Jones, a half-man half-crab creature who claims the souls of many a hapless pirate.

"It seems when they want to cast a half-crab, half-squid character they think of me. I've decided to take it as a compliment. I have to."