Javier Bardem Did the Cutest Thing for His and Penelope Cruz's Kids on the 'Pirates' Set

Javier Bardem recently discovered that there is no better time to bring your kids to work than when work is on a life-sized pirate ship.

During filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in Australia, Bardem had his son, Leonardo, 6, and daughter Luna, 3, with wife Penelope Cruz, visit their dad on a day when he was filming scenes aboard massive war ships built for the production.

“That’s one of the reasons why you do it,” Bardem tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue about taking on the role of vengeful (and undead) villain Captain Salazar. “To be on a real boat and see the cannons and see the people dressed like pirates. That was like a Disney ride for them.”

Costume designer Penny Rose also surprised the youngsters with handmade pirate costumes of their own. However they were only allowed to see the alive version of Bardem’s character, not the undead, decaying version.

“They’re too small for that!” Bardem says of the spooky makeup.

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The Spanish actor goes on to say that while their kids enjoy visiting Mom and Dad on set when appropriate, they don’t fully grasp what their parents do for work quite yet.

“They know that we do movies, but I don’t think they know what that means or what is that all about,” explains Bardem. “It’s fine. We don’t have anything in our house that reminds them that we are actors. We really don’t care about that.”

For more from Javier Bardem, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.