Johnny Depp has said he wasn't "blockbuster material" until his Pirates Of The Caribbean role.

The Hollywood actor started playing Captain Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates film in 2003 and is now gearing up for his fifth outing as the flamboyant character, and implied that the part has changed his career.

"The films that I did prior to Pirates ... Not everything but a lot of it, was sort of by industry standards, not blockbuster stuff. So I wasn't ever blockbuster material," he said.

But Depp said he was also happy to do different types of films.

"I've been lucky enough to be involved in some very small and different independent films throughout my career and I've been able to be involved in, you know, a couple of films that shocked everybody, especially me," he explained.

The 50-year-old star can soon be seen as Native American character Tonto in the upcoming Disney reboot of Lone Ranger, The (2013), another big budget summer movie.

"The only thing I can equate it with is luck. There's no other reason," he said of his career longevity.

"The fact that I was able to survive through that 15 years of just bouncing around doing (indie) movies and now still to end up here is amazing."

However, the star said he recognises that life on Hollywood's A-list can be fleeting.

"I certainly wouldn't expect that it is one of those things that is going to stick around forever and ever," he said. "The clock ticks, the time's up and the next guy steps in or whatever and that's how it goes."

Source: Press Release