Eddie Izzard "broke into" Pinewood Studios when he was a teenager

He said: "Film is my first love. I wanted to be an actor when I was seven - drama, comedy, it didn't really matter. And once I discovered films, around 10, 11, 12, I thought, 'You could be in films. I've got to do this.'

"So at 15, I broke into Pinewood Studios.

"At the end of 'Battle Of Britain', it said, 'Shot on location in Spain, England, and Pinewood Studios.' "So I thought, 'How do I get there?' I got a map with all the towns listed alphabetically and found Iver Heath.

"I took a train from Bexhill to London, then a tube to Uxbridge, a bus to Iver Heath, got off at the roundabout. Where is Pinewood? Half a mile down the road."

However, Eddie was turned away at the doors so sneaked his way in through a different entrance, but to no avail.

He continued to Total Film magazine: "Marched down the road, said, 'Can I come in?' And they said, 'F*** off!' "But there was another entrance and I walked in like Clint Eastwood in 'Where Eagles Dare'.

"I walked around for two hours, trying to get hired, and it didn't happen - but I have been back and filmed there twice."

Having made his name as a comedian, Eddie has turned to acting in recent years but admitted dramatic performance doesn't come easily to him.

He said: "I really turned the corner with dramatic acting between 'The Riches', going into 'United States of Tara', 'Treasure Island' and 'Lost Christmas'. I began to let go. I began to learn how to fly.

"I'd been doing stand-up for ages, and I completely let go in stand-up and I'd float around and see where I'm going.

"I was way too technical initially, I was all over the place, with drama, and then I got very technical when I began to bed in. That's just the way it is.

"Some people are natural from day one and I'm not - I have to go through bloody hell."