Johnny Depp has surprised children on a hospital ward dressed in his Pirates Of The Caribbean costume.

The Hollywood star reprised his Captain Jack Sparrow character to the delight of children at the Donostia University Hospital in Spain, amid his appearance at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Depp’s directorial film titled Modi – Three Days On The Wing Of Madness premiered at the festival on Tuesday.

According to social media posts from the hospital, Oscar-nominee Depp appeared to interact with patients as they lay in hospital and posed for photographs with young fans.

“From all the staff of the Donostia University Hospital, we would like to express our infinite gratitude to Johnny Depp for his time, his support and his energy, as well as to @sansebastianfes for having facilitated this visit,” the hospital wrote on X.

It is not the first time 61-year-old Depp has visited children in hospital dressed in his costume.

Depp once described his daughter Lily-Rose’s nine-day stint in London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, where she received treatment for kidney failure caused by E.coli poisoning in 2007, as “the darkest period of my life”.

Speaking to Graham Norton in 2015 about returning to the hospital to cheer up patients dressed as his Pirates of the Caribbean character, he said: “For me it’s a gift. They give me the gift.

“When my daughter was ill in Great Ormond Street it was the darkest period of my life. I’d always done these visits but after that experience the visits became more and more important.

“The kids are so courageous but to be able to bring a smile or a giggle to the parents means everything in the world to me.”