Dancer Jamie put to the sword

The Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell has two left feet when it comes to fighting. The 24-year-old King Kong star admits he struggled to come to grips with his all-action role in The Eagle because of his dancer background. “You would think dance would help with fight scenes in a way, but bizarrely, sword fighting breaks all the rules because you're supposed to go right foot, right arm forward. Dance is right foot, left arm,” explains Jamie. “With the fight choreographer, I had to unlearn the way you teach sword fighting and teach it backwards for me, because I literally couldn't do it. I cannot make a step with my arm going at the same time, because in dancing it's a very unnatural movement.”