It's not every day a pirate shows up in Pine Bluff.
Martin Klebba, better known as Marty from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, met fans at Double Header on Dollarway Road on Friday and chatted about his life on the high seas with Johnny Depp.
"Johnny is an awesome guy," Klebba said. "You aren't just acting with him. You are learning. You could be on the ocean all day filming, come to shore and have 2,000 fans waiting. Johnny expected you to stay and take a picture with all of them. He always says 'the minute you ignore your fans, you will lose.'"
For fans who grew up on the Pirates movies, meeting Klebba was exactly what they expected – a funny, diminutive pirate in real life.
"He was funny just like in the movies, true to his character," Addison Lindsey of Rison said.
Lindsey journeyed to Pine Bluff with his two friends, Colton Enloe and Devin Saffold, also from Rison, to meet the pirate they watched when they were little boys.
"He is the funniest of all the characters," Saffold said, holding up a signed picture of Klebba firing a canon from the movie. "He is true to his character and really a nice guy who cut me a deal on the picture."
Saffold said his friend had given him $20 to get a signed photo but the cost was $25. Klebba let him have it for $20.
"It's the first time we've met a movie star," Enloe said.
Klebba shrugged about being a movie star.
"I'm just a normal guy who fell into the franchise," said Klebba, who recently moved away from Los Angeles to Tennessee with his wife. "I submitted my name to do stunts and the director liked me. One stunt turned into four out of five movies."
The Pirates multimedia franchise is one of the most successful in history, grossing more than $4.5 billion. Over the history of the series, Depp's comedic Jack Sparrow has become the focal point of plotlines. The franchise's future is currently in limbo because of Depp's personal problems and legal battles with his ex-wife, Amber Heard.
Klebba doesn't think another Pirates movie with Jack Sparrow will happen.
"I don't think they will get Johnny back," Klebba said. "How do you make a movie without Jesus? And Johnny is Jesus in 'Pirates.' If Johnny isn't in it, how do you do it?"
Klebba said he could see the franchise creators turning to an all-female cast with the next movie.
For Klebba, his life doesn't just center around big screen capers with scallywags. A Michigan native, Klebba relocated to Tennessee recently to raise his daughter and the family's two dogs and three cats. He has plans to buy his childhood home in Michigan and joked he might have to do a fundraiser for the money.
"I couldn't do Los Angeles anymore," he said. "This way I get to meet fans around the country like I am here."