Rupert Friend was left terrified as he trained for his role in upcoming gangster movie The Kid - he had to learn to fight.
The film is an adaptation of the 2003 true story by Kevin Lewis, and Keira Knightley's boyfriend takes on the part of the title character, who is abused as a child and ends up embroiled in the criminal underworld.
Friend spent time with Lewis, who insisted the actor trained in a specialised gym - and he admits he struggled with the gruelling workouts.
He tells Britain's Seven magazine, "I didn't want (Lewis) to feel I was an emotional vampire... I did have to understand him as a person.
"When you first walk into a boxing gym you see the ring in the middle and there's this 'holy s**t' moment: that's the danger zone, I'll stay over here.
"But the trainer was insistent every day you have to make the ring your home, and outside scary."
The movie, which also stars Natascha McElhone, Ioan Gruffudd and James Fox, is the first time we have seen him on the big screen since he teamed up with Michelle Pfeiffer last year for Cheri.
The Kid is released 17th September.
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