Hollywood saw that possibility in Sturgess, and in 2008 he was offered leading roles in big studio movies—everything from the romantic leads Hugh Grant was getting too old to play convincingly to superheroes. He turned them all down. “I wasn’t all that tempted,” he told me in July on the phone from his home in London. “Although it’s hard to say no when it’s more money than you’ve ever seen in your life.” Instead, Sturgess, who is now 30, chose to act in an independent film called Fifty Dead Men Walking, playing an Irish informant. He forsook a very commercial American accent for an Irish accent so thick his mother found it disturbing to speak to him. “She’d say, ‘Speak properly,’” he said, rather proudly. “‘I can’t understand a word you’re saying.’”

This delight in the difficult, the challenging, and the obscure has kept Sturgess busy in movies that no one has seen. In 2010 he was touching and unrecognizable as a man with a disfiguring port-wine birthmark covering his face in Heartless, and he was compelling in ­Peter Weir’s The Way Back as a Polish prisoner (yet another accent) who escaped from a Siberian deten­tion camp during World War II.

In truth, I was simultaneously impressed and a little disappointed by Sturgess’s choices. I wanted him to be a star rather than a great-looking character actor. And yet I wasn’t surprised: When I first met him in 2008 at the lobby lounge in the Mercer hotel in New York, he was about to play Peter Parker in a workshop for Taymor’s musical version of Spider-Man. Although the project looked promising then, Sturgess knew he didn’t want to be on Broadway, but he loved Taymor and was still in an Across the Universe afterglow. “We lived that movie,” he told me. “I was working on it for nine months.” He looked over at our waiter. “I was so in the movie that I still find it strange that everyone doesn’t break into Beatles songs all the time. I half expect that waiter to sing.”

Then (and now), Sturgess seemed much more interested in the moviemaking-as-experience idea rather than career (or star) building. As an actor and a person, he wanted to live another life—to soak up and become one with the atmosphere of Vegas, Eastern Europe, Belfast, or wherever the film world took place. “Some people have snapshots,” he told me. “My postcards—my gifts—at the end of these trips are the films.”

Which is why I was secretly thrilled to see Sturgess in One Day as the romantic lead opposite Anne Hathaway. Although the film has a melancholic undertow, it re-establishes Sturgess as a potential movie star. Based on the best-selling novel, One Day follows a couple that meets on the same day for 20 years. Sturgess plays Dexter Mayhew, who starts out callow and effortlessly charming and, as he ages, becomes lonely and adrift. It’s a subtle performance—complex and haunting. “I thought Dexter would be a ­really fun character to play,” he said. “He’s vulgar and obnoxious, and that’s fun. But he was a lot more tragic and desperate than I thought. Truthfully, I spent a lot of my time being miserable.”

Due to his distance from commercial films, Sturgess was required to audition for director Lone Scherfig to get the part in One Day. “I had to do a screen test,” he said matter-of-factly. “They also wanted me to read with Anne to see if we had ‘chemistry.’ There was all this awful pressure—it was very nerve-wracking—but Anne was great. In the end I didn’t mind auditioning or the screen test. I feel like you know it’s a great project if they ask you to audition.”

In all likelihood, in the eyes of Hollywood, One Day will relaunch Sturgess, but he is still not interested in becoming a classic leading man. “As corny as it may sound,” he said to me, “I have a love of cinema. I don’t want to be a ‘celebrity’ or a ‘movie star.’ That was never my goal.”

While I may long for these new leading men to be movie stars and replenish the ranks of Hollywood, I probably shouldn’t. Their goal—to create original characters in intriguing circumstances—is more interesting. “I can’t imagine that it’s any fun to be typecast,” Sturgess told me. “I’d rather risk failing than repeat myself. And if that means that I never become famous, that’s okay.”

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One Day is also out across the UK, and I saw it myself tonight. I thought Jim was exceptional as Dexter, and that the film itself was really enjoyable. Make sure you check it out!

Cloud Atlas follows six storylines which range from the South Pacific in the 19th Century to California in the 1970s to a post-apocalyptic future. Sturgess didn’t reveal his role to USA Today, but like his fellow cast members he’ll probably be taking on multiple characters. Sturgess spoke about the movie to The Playlist a few weeks ago when there was talk of him joining.

”[All the actors] play a few characters, it’s very clever what [the directors are] gonna try and do. I’m really really really excited about it,” Sturgess continued. “I think it’s going to be bonkers, it’s either going to work or it’s not. I’m really excited to see if we can pull it off, because it’s ambitious what they want to do. And it’s nice, you feel like no one’s ever done that in a film before, it’s like rep theater on a sort of giant movie scale.”

Earlier this week we heard shooting would begin in late-September, with The Wachowskis (The Matrix) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) in charge of different teams to shoot the six storylines. Tykwer will probably handle the period era plotlines while The Wachowskis direct the sci-fi scenes set in the future.

Specific roles haven’t been confirmed, but Halle Berry is expected to play Meronym, a member of the last remnants of technologically-advanced civilization, and South Korean actress Bae Doona (The Host) will likely play Sonmi~451, a genetically-engineered clone in the year 2144. Hugo Weaving revealed earlier this year that he’ll be playing 6 different characters.

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By all accounts, it is not something you want to mess with — so it’s a brave man who attempts to turn such a national treasure into a film. Thankfully, that man is also the book’s author, David Nicholls. And, doubly thankfully, the man who’s cast to play Dexter, the Nineties’ lad-culture TV presenter who descends into ruination, is 33-year-old Jim Sturgess, one of the big hopes of the British acting firmament.

Not only does he possess the indie looks that could easily have seen him on the cover of The Face in 1994 (had he not been studying for his GCSEs), but he also has the acting prowess to deliver. This is the man who broke out with 2007’s Across The Universe, who headed up cult British horror Heartless in 2009, who starred with Colin Farrell in 2010’s The Way Back. He can handle the pressure. Just you watch.

People are passionate about this book. Have you Googled yourself to check the ever-fickle public are convinced you’re the man for the job?

[Laughs] I haven’t specifically looked but I have seen some comments. One of them said, “Why do they always cast American actors in these British films? Jim Sturgess’s British accent is terrible.” That was my favourite.

Talking of accents, did you help Anne Hathaway perfect her northern accent? Did you take her to the pub to teach her about real ale, whippets and pork scratchings?

I wish I’d had the time. I’d just got back from shooting in Montreal [for Upside Down, with Kirsten Dunst] so we were straight into the thick of it. I didn’t get involved with Anne’s accent at all. She stayed in the accent on and off-camera, so I forgot she was doing it, really. But I’ve been on the other side of the coin and done other accents.

Which has been trickiest to muster?

Polish was quite tricky for The Way Back, and Northern Irish for 50 Dead Men Walking with Ben Kingsley, where I played a scally from Belfast. If you can’t hear your own voice coming out of your mouth, it’s a lot easier to lose yourself in the character. When I did the Belfast accent I became a lot more bouncy as a human being, more cheeky and mischievous. It’s amazing how an accent allows you to say things that you couldn’t say normally.

Did you model One Day’s Dexter on anyone in particular? You go a bit Big Breakfast-era Johnny Vaughan in your Nineties-TV-presenter phase…

No one’s said that yet. They always say Terry Christian. I watched The Big Breakfast during those years. It was part of my morning routine. And The Word. So, yeah, there’s probably a bit of Terry and Johnny in there.

Was there anything garish from the Nineties lurking in your cupboard that you could have worn on set?

I used to have a reversible tracksuit. One side was a black shell suit and if you flipped it was a sort of grey sweat suit. I lived in it for a period of time to have the best of both worlds.

Were you as successful with the ladies as Dex?

No, not at all. I’m smarter than Dexter so I ended up having a relationship with my best friend pretty early on. So I’ve been in a happy relationship for a long time.

Could you empathise with his descent into alcohol and drugs?

I’ve certainly drunk a lot over the years, as we all do in England. It’s amazing when you go to another country, what a big part of British culture drinking is.

Have you got any mates to go to the pub with when you’re in LA?

I have friends, yes, but I don’t really hang around with other actors. In England we’ll all eat a bit of food then go out for a good p*ss-up. In the US you go and have dinner with a bit of wine. No one wants to get p*ssed with me!

Is it true that you auditioned for role of Spider-Man for the reboot?

No, but I was involved with Spider-Man: The Musical. I’d worked with Julie Taymore on Across The Universe. She’s an amazing director and gave me my break. She was directing Spider-Man: The Musical and asked if I would help with some workshops. So me and [Across The Universe co-star] Evan Rachel Wood helped out for two weeks with Bono and The Edge from U2, who had written all the music. But I was never going to be Spider-Man.

Would you like to be Spider-Man?

Er… No.

If you could play any superhero, who would you choose?

I’d be Jamie from [Seventies kids’ cartoon] Jamie And The Magic Torch, the feature-length version.

You’ve been in lots of bands. Are you a frustrated musician at heart?

I’ve been playing in bands since I was 15. I was in a band called Dilated Spies in Manchester [where Sturgess studied at the University Of Salford], but my biggest band was when I was in London. We were called Saint Faith. It was a seven-piece and my life for about four years.

Did you get anywhere? We can’t quite remember seeing you on Top Of The Pops…

[Laughs] We never made it that far, mainly because we were really stupid and immature and thought that record companies were just there to do you over and mess with your music. We had a lot of interest but we blew it, basically. I’m glad that we did, because I wouldn’t want that to be my life. It was too mad and unpredictable.

Actors who form bands, such as Keanu Reeves and Russell Crowe, tend to struggle to be acclaimed, musically. Is it easier to go the other way around?

The hard thing when you’re making music is that people have to believe in you as the singer. If they’ve seen you dressed as lots of other characters before they don’t quite know how to buy into it. The examples you gave are people who are in pretty bad bands. But there are people such as Vincent Gallo, Michael Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Charlotte Gainsbourg who are incredible actors and brilliant musicians.

And Hugh Laurie, of course…

Yes! Hugh’s doing brilliantly with his music at the moment.

We heard that you’re working with Michael Winterbottom next…

Possibly. It’s a film called Promise Land, which we’ve been trying to get off the ground together. Michael’s brilliant — he tries to do as many different things as he can, and he’s so good at them all.

Did you see Winterbottom’s The Trip? Can you do any impressions?

No. But I have a friend who does the best impression of Steve Coogan you’ve ever heard.

One Day is at cinemas nationwide from 26 August

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As the rain came down in sheets outside the Waldorf Astoria Towers, Sturgess sunk into a flowery couch in his suite. Two carts of room service food had been left by the door, carefully monitored by his host of agents. Speakeasy talked with a surprisingly antsy Sturgess as he adjusted and readjusted his skinny tie.

David Nicholls book is beloved by American and British audiences. Were you nervous about being the living, breathing Dexter?

I wasn’t at the beginning at all because I hadn’t heard of the book. I read the screenplay first and met with Lone [Scherfig]. I responded to it; it was a good script. That alone, I was interested. Then I was away, I was filming somewhere else and that’s when I read the book. So I wasn’t around the madness behind the book in England. Then we made the film and since making the film my radar is much more open. I just see it everywhere now. Every time I sit on a train five people are reading it. And in England the book is bright orange and at night it almost illuminates the streets of London. It’s everywhere. So now I’m starting to think “oh my god, what have I done.”

Why are you worried?

Everybody has those characters in their head. And they have every right, those characters are their characters and every body has their own individual take. Their own personal Dexter and Emma. And so it’s hard to personify so many different peoples versions of that character.

Did you read the book as a typical pleasure reader or as an actor?

Well when I had a meeting with Lone in London she gave me her copy of the book and that was before I was even cast, she told me I must read it. So I thought that was a good sign that she wanted me to do it. I was three quarters into the book just reading it and enjoying it as a reader would read a book and not thinking about it in work terms or filmmaking terms or acting terms, just enjoying the read and going along for the ride. And then I got told was cast as Dexter and I was like “that just ruined the rest of the book for me. I can’t enjoy the rest of the book now.” So then my brain starting picking the book apart, thinking about Dexter in that way.

How much time did you have to prepare for the role?

Very little. I landed from Montreal and was getting phone calls five minutes after the plane landed to come in for costume fittings. I had a couple of weeks. It was crazy.

This project captures an immense amount of time. How did you try and capture the decades of changes in Dexter’s personality?

Dexter and Emma meant everything to each other. That’s what I liked about the film really. It was these two people struggling to work out what their relationship is and they are so clearly connected. But it was just the case of going through each year and figuring out where you were at. Imagining what you were doing for the rest of the year. Had you spoken to each other much that year? Had you been in a couple of arguments? Where was your relationship at before the 15 of July when you would drop in and see where they were? You realize how much you go through in life and the new responsibilities that are thrown at you and how you change as a person form being pretty carefree to the consequences of a carefree attitude to responsibilities of a new era in your life as you reach parenthood and marriage.

Do you have a best friend the way Dexter does?

Yeah, she is my girlfriend. I was sort of clever enough to acknowledge that pretty quickly and stick with her in that way. We spend a lot of time together, we hang out together — laugh, joke, cry — as you should. She’s definitely the closest friend I’ve had. But I’ve also had a friend that I have grown up with since I was three years old who’s my mate who’s still my best mate. So you get the best of both.

What are you doing next?

There’s a film coming out called “Upside Down” and it is with Kirsten Dunst. Also, I’m doing a film that I can’t talk about in Europe.

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