Wesley Snipes' faith and his family got him through his time in prison

Asked how he coped in jail, he told Loaded magazine: "First you have your faith in the most high and your spiritual foundation - that's the key to anything no matter what the situation is.

"And then the knowledge that greater men than me have been through worse situations is always an inspiration. Your family's an inspiration."

Wesley - who claims he was the victim of "bad advice" about his taxes - also credited his martial arts training with helping him to cope while he was behind bars.

He explained: "You overcome man, you know? You overcome. Both as an actor and as a martial artist one is trained to deal with adversity and embrace it as an opportunity to improve and see a brighter future for yourself. And you do what they call the shaking time, like when you trim a plant and you cut away all of the dead stuff or when a snake sheds its skin, and you're born anew."

The new issue of Loaded is on the shelves now. For more info please visit loaded.co.uk.