Jamie Bell didn't know if he was good enough to star alongside Annette Bening.

The 31-year-old actor stars alongside the Oscar nominee in 'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool', and admitted he had to go away and work out how to ''hold my own'' against the 59-year-old Hollywood legend.

Speaking to Shortlist Magazine, Bell said: ''It's a masterclass in acting because you need to go away and figure out how to hold your own against someone like Bening.

''I didn't know if I could do it: being her equal, being her match, pushing up against her. From the get-go, that was the thing I was going, 'Oh, s**t about'.''

The film sees Bening portraying real life actress Gloria Grahame who meets the unknown actor Peter Turner (Bell) in 1978 leading to the two starting a vibrant love affair despite their age difference.

'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool' is based on Turner's memoirs about his affair with the B-Movie actress.

Although shooting to fame when he was only 14 in 'Billy Elliot' and having a successful career after, Bell revealed he is proud to still be ''f**king working''.

He said: ''One thing I am proud of over the past decade is still to be f**king working. I certainly didn't see that longevity coming when I started out, and you can't expect it, either. I'm not entitled to work.

''It's only relatively recently that I've been taking it more seriously. Work excites me, more than ever now. It doesn't matter what it is, you have to get up to try to hit the ball. F**k it, you're going to miss it nine times out of 10, but there will be one f**king time when you hit it.''