Jamie Bell 'worried' about accent

The star of 2000's Billy Elliot, Jamie Bell, says he and the other main actors on new World War II film Defiance were scared about speaking in Polish and Russian accents but that it great working with Bond actor Daniel Craig.

Were you worried about having to do a Polish accent in your new film, Defiance?

Yes. A little bit. I feel like you have to at least try. I don't know if you've seen Valkyrie yet but I didn't detect a single accent in it. And I feel like if you're really portraying real people who did something, in this case incredibly heroic, I feel like you have to be as true to them as possible. I actually got off lightly. Daniel [Craig] and Liev [Schreiber] actually had to speak fluent Russian, which isn't the easiest language to master. So I got off lightly. I just has to do a kind of Belarusian accent.

Listen to Jamie Bell talking to Edith Bowman

Did you practise your accent for anyone before the film?

Everyone was so nervous about their accents. We literally turned up on the set on the first day of rehearsals and everyone was saying their lines very quietly. No-one wanted to give away how bad their accent actually sounded, Daniel included. Anything that brought more authenticity to these characters, we thought was important.

What was it like working with Daniel Craig?

I love his work. I have such admiration for what he's done in his career from Our Friends In The North to Munich to Bond.

There's also this thing about New York that when you land you feel like instead of going home it feels like you're going to the party Jamie Bell on living in New York

It's consistent steps and always working with fantastic people and always working on other great projects too, like Enduring Love and things like The Mother, really provocative and edgy pieces of work.

When you're playing a character who's supposed to idolise his older brother, it's not hard when you already have admiration for the person to then translate it into a fictional admiration. Beyond that, Daniel as a person is one of the most generous people I know.

He's so generous with his ideas, with his acting and just as a person in general. I've got nothing really bad to say about the person at all.

Having followed his career was it weird hanging out with Daniel Craig in the forest between takes?

No. He's such a nice, ordinary, down to earth guy who's seemingly unaffected completely by his current meteorite into stardom. It's really refreshing and it's a fantastic lesson for any young actor who wants to continue acting. To see someone who's in the grip of the height of their career who's just handling it with such a level head and such a coolness and also such a respect for material and for directors and for other actors, it's a good lesson.

What about you career-wise? You obviously started off as a dancer. Are you ever going to go back to that?

Jamie Bell plays Asael Bielski in Defiance, one of four brothers

I was desperate to try to put a dancing sequence in this movie but Daniel wasn't too sure about it. I don't know. There hasn't been anything good with dancing in it for a while. I'm not really a fan of movie musicals either. So that's kind of put to bed at the moment. But I love my dancing. I really embrace it. I think without that I think I wouldn't have quite the discipline. I think dancing gives you a certain discipline. I would love to apply that to one again but there hasn't been the right thing to do again.

You now live in New York. What's been the best thing about living over there?

I don't know. You just blend in with every other crazy person that's there. You kind of feel you're just at home. I like the containment factor of New York. It's small and you're confined and it's compact. There's also this thing about New York that when you land you feel like instead of going home it feels like you're going to the party. No matter where you are you're always at the party. It's that kind of energy. I also love being able to go and get coffee at one in the morning. It caters to people like me. I feel I fit in there really well. Also it's between LA and London, which makes perfect sense for me.

Jaime Bell was speaking to Newsbeat entertainment reporter Sarah Jane Griffiths.