Johnny Depp gives sharks a dog dinner

Jun 2, 2009, 9:20 GMT

Johnny Depp. The \'Pirates of the Caribbean\' actor has his own private island in the Bahamas and whenever the pressures of fame get too much for him he goes there to play with the killer fish and forget about acting.EPA/FRANCK ROBICHON

Johnny Depp feeds hot dogs to sharks to escape his crazy life.

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor has his own private island in the Bahamas and whenever the pressures of fame get too much for him he goes there to play with the killer fish and forget about acting.

Depp - who has two children, Lily-Rose, 10, and seven-year-old Jack, with French partner Vanessa Paradis - said: "Whenever I was getting frustrated about being 'novelty boy' and making movies, I told myself, 'Calm down.' I can come down here and disappear. I spent the Christmas season here with Vanessa and the kids. You can feed hot dogs to the nurse sharks in the Exumas (the Bahamas Out Islands) - but it's best to not swim when doing it!"

Depp, 45, doesn't think he would be able to cope with his hectic life if he didn't have the 45-acre island, known as Little Hall's Pond Cay.

The screen heartthrob - who mainly lives in Paris with his family - added in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine: "I don't think I'd ever seen any place so pure and beautiful.

"It's my decompression. It's my way of trying to return to normalcy. Escapism is survival to me.

"You can feel your pulse rate drop about 20 beats. It's instant freedom. And that rare beast, simplicity, can be had. And a little morsel of anonymity."