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Jeremy Irvine has laughed off suggestions that he is the next Christian Bale.
The 21-year-old actor makes his big-screen debut in Steven Spielberg's First World War epic, War Horse, and the Oscar-winning filmmaker has likened him to Dark Knight star Christian.
"Oh come on! Stop it," Jeremy said. "That's very sweet. Christian Bale is one of my favourite actors so I am hugely flattered. But it's ridiculous."
But Jeremy admitted he would love to follow in Christian's footsteps.
"I use Christian Bale a lot when I'm talking about careers I really admire. You struggle to find a film where he didn't do a fantastic job. He makes amazing choices. I thought The Fighter was one of the greatest films I have ever seen in the last five years."
The actor revealed how winning the War Horse lead role, after two months of auditions, was a dream come true.
"Coming from a theatre show with no lines to this has been a jump. I played a tree, and hadn't been working for two years. I was quite happy playing my little tree, then I got the Spielberg call. It was beyond anything I could have imagined," he recalled.
Jeremy also had to learn to bond with the horses.
"I had no experience with horses before. So I had to convince them I was a master horseman," he admitted. "I worked at the stables and took riding lessons."
:: War Horse is in cinemas now
