Wansford woman Sharlene creates a picture perfect gift for Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp

Sharlene Hull spent two months painting the huge picture of the Hollywood A-lister, and handed over the present at a premier last 
week.

Sharlene, 44, even got to give the Pirates of the Caribbean star a cuddle as he walked down the red carpet for the showing of Alice Through The Looking Glass in London on 
Tuesday.

She said: “I have been to a few premieres of Johnny’s before, and got his autograph a few times. He is always so good to his fans, and I wanted to do something to say thank you to him.

“I paint for a hobby, and thought I would do a life-size painting of him.

“Everyone loves Jack Sparrow (the character played by Johnny in the Pirates of the Caribbean films) so I bought a roll canvas and painted the six foot by three foot painting using acrylic paint.

“I contacted Johnny’s head of security, his agent and his production company to say I wanted to give the picture to him.

“Then out of the blue his head of security rang back, and he said lots of people wanted to meet him, but told me to come to the premiere, and they would see what they could do.”

Sharlene, of Elton Road, Wansford, said her partner, Phil Weiss, carried the picture - protected by a plastic cover - to the Leicester Square showing.

She said: ““When the stars came onto the carpet, Tim Burton was coming, but I didn’t want to miss out on Johnny, so I didn’t speak to him.

“The picture got Johnny’s attention and he came over. When he saw it he jumped back in shock. His security reached out to make sure he wasn’t falling over.

“He thought he had to sign it, but I told him it was a present. He asked why I had done it, and gave me a 
cuddle.

“I said it was a thank you for being so good to your 
fans.

“He came over, and we had a kiss and a cuddle, and he posed for a photograph with me. There was lots of screaming from the others in the crowd when he came over.”

Sharlene said the painting was taken away by Johnny’s security team, and she was told it would be flown back to his LA house.

She said: “I would love to be a fly on that painting.

“I think his next premiere will be next year for Pirates of the Caribbean 5, so I will have to think of something else to do for that.”

Sharlene also thanked her boyfriend, Phil, for his 
help.

She said: “He is the one who carried the picture to London, so I could not have done this without him.

“I had a dream to be able to do this, and he is the one who allowed me to complete 
this.

“He said he is proud of me for managing to do 
it.”