50 facts about Jeremy Irvine: earned widespread critical acclaim the role opposite Dakota Fanning in "Now Is Good"

Jeremy Irvine's 50 facts.

1. Irvine was born and raised in Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire.

2. He is the first of three boys.

3. His mother, Bridget, is a politician in local government.

4. His father, Chris Smith, is an engineer.

5. Irvine also has two younger brothers, Lawrence, and Toby Irvine.

6. His brother Toby is a child actor who portrays the young Pip in Great Expectations.

7. Irvine's stage name comes from his grandfather's first name.

8. He applied to the British Army at the age of 19, but was rejected after lying about his type 1 diabetes on his application.

9. He started acting at the age of 16.

10. Irvine states that it was his drama teacher who inspired him to pursue acting: "I never fitted in, which led me to acting. I was looking for something different."

11. He played Romeo along with other main roles in plays whilst attending Bedford Modern School a Harpur Trust school in Bedfordshire, followed by a run with the National Youth Theatre.

12. After completing a one-year foundation course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Irvine spent two years posting his CV through letterboxes in an effort to get acting work.

13. He almost gave up acting for good just before he got his big break in War Horse.

14. In an interview with CBS News while promoting Great Expectations, revealed that he considered taking a different career path: "I'd kind of hit rock bottom and really did think this was stupid and I just wasted three or four years of my life. My dad wanted me to get a job being a welder. At the company he was at, he was an engineer. I was very very close to doing that."

15. His full name is Jeremy William Fredric Smith.

16. He is an English actor.

17. In 2011, he starred as the lead character in the epic war film War Horse, which turned Irvine into an overnight film star.

18. In 2012, Irvine portrayed Pip in the adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.

19. He also earned widespread critical acclaim for his role in the independent film Now Is Good, leading critics to list him among Hollywood's fastest-rising stars.

20. Irvine earned a reputation as a method actor after he went for two months without food, losing around two stone (13 kg), and performed his own torture scene stunts in The Railway Man.

21. He has starred in A Night in Old Mexico, The World Made Straight, The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, Stonewall, and will portray Daniel Grigori in the film adaptation of the young adult novel Fallen.

22. Before he got his big break, Irvine worked in his local supermarket.

23. To make living he also did web design.

24. He was also called in for a audition to do a mayonnaise commercial but supposedly turned it down.

25. Irvine taught at an acting school that has since closed.

26. He played Luke in the television series Life Bites and appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2010 production of Dunsinane.

27. He was quoted in Interview Magazine, saying: "My friends all took the mick out of me for Dunsinane saying, 'You're gonna be the tree'. Indeed, in my first scene, I was waving two branches."

28. Spielberg revealed that he had been looking for an unknown actor for War Horse, stating: "I looked at hundreds of actors and newcomers for Albert - mainly newcomers - and nobody had the heart, the spirit or the communication skills that Jeremy had."

29. The audition for War Horse lasted for two months with Irvine auditioning several times a week. Irvine was asked to read a section of the War Horse script on camera in order to check his West Country accent.

30. In an attempt to prepare himself for the role of Albert, Irvine underwent two months of intensive horse riding.

31. He spent so much time recreating the Battle of Somme scene in the film that he ended up contracting trench foot.

32. For his work in War Horse, he was nominated for the London Film Critics' Choice Award for Young British Performer Of The Year and Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer.

33. Irvine has had diabetes mellitus type 1 since the age of six: "When I was six, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I was on four injections a day, which I administered myself." "I can eat whatever I want now. I was dreading my little brothers, Lawrence and Toby being diagnosed with diabetes too."

34. Irvine has been involved in trials with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to test an artificial pancreas, a form of automatic glucose meter attached to a portable insulin pump. The tests took place at Addenbrooke's Hospital with the University of Cambridge during 2005 and 2007.

35. Irvine introduced his experiences with diabetes to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to the Cambridge Welcome Trust Clinical Research Facility on 7 February 2012.

36. He was again present with the Duchess on 31 January 2013 at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's inpatient adolescent ward, after she had become president of the JDRF in 2012.

37. Irvine avoids the spotlight and tries to maintain privacy, once saying that "I realised very quickly that I didn't want to be famous, so I don't go to Mahiki, I just go down the pub with all my mates".

38. When asked about his rising fame, he said: "When War Horse came out, I had maybe a month of people stopping me in the street, then it died down. I try to ignore all that and pretend none of it exists. We're only acting. The work my mum does, a lot of it is re-housing homeless people, that's a real job. I play make-believe and dressing up for a living!"

39. In an interview with the Daily Mail to promote War Horse, he described his ideal life: "There's nothing nicer than coming back to your village, where people like my mum's friends take the mick out of me. I prefer that to the craziness of Hollywood."

40. Irvine earned widespread critical acclaim for his role opposite Dakota Fanning in the independent film "Now Is Good," leading critics to list him among Hollywood's fastest-rising stars.

41. Irvine has several films scheduled for release in 2015 including "The World Made Straight," "Stonewall," "Fallen" and "Beyond the Reach," in which he stars alongside Michael Douglas.

42. He can be seen next in "The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death" in theaters January 2.

43. Was one of the many young actors who auditioned for the role of Jace Wayland in the film "The Mortal Instruments" (2012), including Chord Overstreet (Glee), Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song), and Kellan Lutz (Twilight). The role was originally offered to Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four) but he turned down the role, and it eventually went to Jamie Campbell Bower.

44. Jeremy started acting the age of sixteen.

45. He enjoys riding horses.

46. One of his hobbies is motorbikes.

47. Collects WW1 and WW2 weaponry.

48. He didn't know how to ride horses before filming War Horse.

49. Two of Jeremy's paternal great-great-grandparents were Scottish.

50. He turned down the role in the film Divergent.