Budding actors and directors picked the brains of a Hollywood star when he came to talk at a South East college.

BAFTA award winning actor, writer and director Justin Chadwick gave Central Sussex College’s sixth-form students top tips for success and discussed his new film Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom, due out next year.

Drama and film student Lee Bubb, 16, from Chelwood Gate, said: “Justin was an inspiration. He is proof that someone like me can follow a dream and become a film director. He has actually really spurred me on to work hard so that I can do something that I really want to do when I’m older.”

Subject leader for theatre studies, Paula Watkins, who organised the visit, said: “It is really important that students understand the nature of what is a very competitive industry.  Justin gave them a very honest insight into the highs and lows of the television and film world and valuable advice on how to be successful.”