Jim Sturgess has revealed how he approached the role of playing double agent Martin McGartland in Fifty Dead Men Walking - by getting drunk.

“I got given the book so it was a good starting point for me to look into what he went through and who he was as a person, and his take on the journey that he had. But most importantly, it was just getting myself to Belfast as quick as possible really and just integrating myself with the people that are there,” he said at the film’s press conference in Toronto.

“The pub was the best place to find all the stories we were looking for. So there was a lot of drinking basically that went on with Kevin (Zegers). We just got drunk really and spoke to a lot of Irishmen. Irish people are great storytellers, and especially when you’re sitting in such relaxed environment, and all these amazing things would come out.”

The 27-year-old actor, who became a star after starring in Across The Universe, said: “I obviously never got to speak to him - he’s a hard man to find so it wasn’t easy for me to get in contact or speak to him.

“So I had to approach it like any other character really. It was just to look into what was there on the page and what I could find out from other sources, and then use my imagination and my perspective of what I thought was going on.”

Source: Metro UK