Keith Richards filming "Pirates" role

The Rolling Stones return to North America next week, and Keith Richards is using the time before the tour starts to get in a side gig. He's been tapped to play Johnny Depp's father in the third Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, and fellow Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood told us Keith is hard at work: "He is on the set, as we speak, with Johnny Depp. He said he's gonna come to the next rehearsal in character -- he's gonna come straight off set dressed as a pirate, and come to rehearsals."

Wood also told us that at the Stones gig in Denmark earlier this month, which closed out their European tour, Richards revealed that he's undergoing a bit of a change for the role: "He said to me, 'I'm not allowed to shave from now on, so they're gonna tie little bits on my beard (chuckles)' -- whatever bits grow. He said, 'They're gonna dangle bits off of it, and the longer it gets, the more they're gonna tie on.' And I, I just thought, 'Oh dear, I'm dying to see this!' I'll take a Polaroid for ya! (laughs)"

The Stones head back on the road beginning next Wednesday (September 13th) at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End, with Richards playing the father of Johnny Depp's character Captain Jack Sparrow, is on target for a May 2007 release.