Interview – Jeremy Irvine

Jeremy Irvine 1

Jeremy Irvine with Chopard in Cannes

Jeremy Irvine set the British acting scene alight with his stunning performance in Steven Spielberg’s screen adaptation of War Horse. In May this year his talent was celebrated when he was awarded a Chopard Trophée by Oscar Award-winning actor Colin Firth, patron of the Chopard Trophy. The much – coveted award signals his quick rise to fame. With two new movies on the way, including the sequel to The Woman In Black, he is most certainly one to watch out for this year.

We caught up with him at Cannes Film Festival to find out how he feels about following in the footsteps of fellow young British actor Daniel Radcliffe, what it was like working alongside Spielberg and how his evening with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went.

What was it like working with Spielberg?

Well War Horse was my first job. I had never really acted in films so Spielberg was more than my director – he was very much a father figure. I saw him last night at the awards and I was a little bit out of my depth and nervous but he came over and gave me a hug and reassured me.

What did you learn from him?

He taught me a lot about acting for camera. When I first shot War Horse I was in this muddy field in Devon and I had to fall off a horse and he was down in the mud with me showing me how to get up. He taught me a lot of lessons about camera technique.

You were awarded Chopard’s Trophée by ColinFirth at the 2013 Chopard awards ceremony inCannes last month, how did that feel?

I feel incredibly honoured and surprised; the last few years that I have filmed have felt very much like a party that I have crashed. I always feel incredibly honoured that I am invited to these big award events and to be around all these actors that I have admired since I was very young. Actors like Colin Firth are the reason I went into acting. So to be on stage with them is astonishing!

The critics say you became a ‘star overnight’after War Horse; what has changed since yourose to fame?

Nothing has changed really apart from that I can now get work and I spent two years trying to get work so I am now really doing my hobby as a job which is great.

What would your advice be to anyone lookingto get into acting?

Cameras are so cheap, most computers have editing software so there is no excuse anymore not to make your own work. The reason I got into war horse was because I shot my own footage with friends and Spielberg saw this footage. Even if you don’t have work you can make your own work. You can’t waste time sitting by the phone.

What have you got coming up in the latterhalf of the year?

I have got two movies coming up this year, one of them I can talk about which is a horror movie, the sequel to The Woman In Black. We take the Daniel Radcliffe movie and jump forward 60 years to the Second World War and the story goes from the Blitz through?to the evacuation. I’d love to do an action movie. I don’t choose scripts based on genre but rather character and whether the script is moving. After War Horse I turned down every script for six months until I came across Narrows Beard which was a script that really spoke to me. You don’t pick a film based on genry but rather what moves you.

Who would you most like to act alongside?

I mean, filming with people like Colin is beyond my wildest expectations anyway. I have always been a fan of Leonardo di Caprio. I saw The Great Gatsby last night and he has always been one of my heroes. People like Christian Bale and Michael Shannon are my favourite actors right now.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge invited youfor drinks recently, how did it go?

I did go and I took my grandma and my dad. It was quite a mad experience but it was nice to take my grandmother: I felt that she could appreciate it a bit more than I could because it felt a little bit like a dream to me!

What do you like to do when you are notacting?

I do a lot of writing, I’m very into writing history documentaries. I have always been fascinated by the personal stories that came out of the First and Second World Wars and I have recently been writing a story about a fighter pilot. It’s something I am very passionate about, outside of acting.

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