Jeremy Irvine created a showreel of fake work to land his job in 'War Horse.'

The 22-year-old actor - who had his breakthrough role in the hit movie - became so obsessed to finally get a job he resorted to hiring cameras and filming the showreel before passing it off as real to agents.

He said: ''I was making show reels with my friend - this is basically how I got 'War Horse'. I spent a year making this four-minute thing, and I went around agents telling them it was professional work.

''Looking back, it's embarrassing, but I made lots of clips. I did a bit of 'King Lear,' I did a few other scenes from things with different costumes, and made it look as though I'd done a load of work!''

The star - who is dating singer Ellie Goulding - admits his fame has made it even harder for him to have a relationship and he says he was star struck on the set of his latest film 'Great Expectations.'

He said: ''Let's just say it wasn't easy to go on dates before all this [fame] and it sure isn't easy now.

''A lot of it is still guess work. Of course, walking onto a set with people like Ralph Fiennes [as Magwitch] and Helena Bonham Carter [as Miss Havisham], you are going to be a bit like, 'God, that's Helena Bonham Carter, you know?'

''I'm just this snotty-nosed little new kid. But you just try desperately not to think about it.''