Jack O'Connell feels "grateful every day" for his success

Asked where he'd be if he hadn't found acting, Jack told The Times newspaper: "I honestly don't know. There's an element of 'Sliding Doors' to it and that stays with me - it makes me feel grateful every day."

Jack struggled in school and admits that drama was the only subject he actually enjoyed.

He shared: "I just couldn't sit still. I was a little show-off with nowhere to direct that energy in a conventional classroom environment. It wasn't that I was dumb, despite what my results might indicate."

Jack now feels frustrated that the English school system doesn't support children with similar ambitions.

He explained: "I definitely thrived. So thank Christ drama was on the curriculum and compulsory. That's no longer the case. It's a commentary on how the arts are viewed. It's very depressing."

Jack has been "having conversations" with various people within the industry in order to instigate change.

The actor explained: "That's the best way to effect change, rather than stand on a soapbox and complain. But things are getting worse and I don't think that's what we signed up to. That's not the social contract."

Jack first gained recognition for playing James Cook in the hit TV series 'Skins' between 2009 and 2013. The teen drama also starred the likes of Nicholas Hoult, Dev Patel, and Kaya Scodelario, and Jack has likened the show to a university for young actors and actresses.

Jack quipped: "It was our uni, just without the debt."