Douglas Booth landed on the radar thanks to his impressive turns as Boy George in Worried About the Boy and Pip in Great Expectations, but this week he heads to the big screen to play Romeo in the Julian Fellowes-scripted Romeo and Juliet.
Digital Spy sat down with the fast-rising star to discuss working with Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld and the pressures of following in the footsteps of Leonardo DiCaprio.
"You have to throw that baggage out the window at the beginning," Booth said in reference to the previous actors who have portrayed William Shakespeare's doomed Montague.
"You can't think about the other people that've played it. Me and Hailee were closest in age to the play than has ever been done on screen before - she was 15 and I was 19.
"For us that meant that we could create this in a very natural and kinetic way... just thinking about being two young people in these situations."
Booth also spoke about his forthcoming roles in Darren Aronofsky's Noah and The Wachowskis' forthcoming Jupiter Ascending, a blockbuster he tantalisingly describes as "Star Wars meets The Matrix".
> 'Romeo and Juliet' review: Douglas Booth, Hailee Steinfeld are star-crossed
> Wherefore art thou... Gnomeo?: A history of 'Romeo and Juliet' movies
Romeo and Juliet is showing in UK cinemas now.
Movies Editor
Simon has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, writing on staff and freelance for Hearst, Dennis, Future and Autovia titles before joining Cision in 2022.
