Will Poulter: 'Pals keep me grounded'

Actor Will Poulter’s friends have kept him grounded.

The British star has been appearing in films since childhood, slowly progressing from English flicks like Son of Rambow, to Oscar-winning epics like The Revenant.

Over the last nine years the London-born star, 23, has acted with the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Leonardo DiCaprio, but has yet to turn into an A-list diva.

“I was lucky that I had friends who have maintained a very regular attitude with me and haven’t changed how they interact with me,” he smiled of staying grounded to Britain’s Evening Standard newspaper. "I have got some fantastic friendships that I have had for a long, long time.”

Brad Pitt is the latest Hollywood heavyweight Will is adding to his roster of co-stars, with the pair working together on War Machine. The film is a satirical take on America’s war in Afghanistan, focusing on the people running the campaign and hits cinemas later this year (16).

“I find myself struggling not to laugh on lots of occasions. Brad was brilliant but at the same time totally believable,” he praised, before adding comedy isn’t his own forte. “If I tried to do comedy for the rest of my career I would not be very successful.”

Ahead of the 2016 Oscars in February (16), where frontier flick The Revenant scooped three golden statues, Will spoke to The Independent about why he followed a career into drama. Unlike his cardiology professor father and nurse mother and sister, Will admits acting was the only option for him.

"They all do far more important jobs than me, and get a lot less attention and reward for it," he confessed. "Not that I could follow in their footsteps even if I wanted to – I didn't exactly have a host of amazing science grades. I had nothing else going for me at school. I lived for my one lesson of drama a week."