Sam Riley wants to emulate Johnny Depp's career.

The 'Brighton Rock' star thinks the Hollywood legend's method of mixing quirky indie films with big blockbusters is ideal because, like him, he doesn't want to lose his credibility.

Sam said: "There's something about being able to do Disney movies without anyone accusing you of sucking Satan's c**k that is extremely appealing."

Sam admitted he seems to be playing a similar type of character over and over again - "suicidal artistic types" - but he doesn't care because he enjoys the challenge dark roles offer.

He said: "I suppose I've only played the same sort of suicidal artist types. That's my thing, bit of black-and-white cinematography and a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. I shouldn't really give myself too tiny a niche. But it's just so much fun to play somebody who's horrible."

The 31-year-old actor will next be seen on screen in an adaptation of Jack Kerouac's semi-autobiographical novel 'On the Road' and while Sam accepts fans of the book may criticise the film, he never considered it when he was offered the lead role of Sal Paradise.

He said: "There are going to be a lot of haters out there because the book means a lot to people. But you can't make your decisions based on what a blogger is going to say. I've got to earn my keep and I'd have been an idiot to say, 'I'd better not do this because some people might not like it.' "