With his sunbleached hair, washboard abs and surfer-dude looks, Paul Walker has carved out a respectable career in escapist fantasies like The Fast And The Furious and Into The Blue, while indulging a passion for extreme sports in his sapre time. However, now that he's found some fame, Walker is keen to show off his acting chops. His latest movie Running Scared sees the actor stretching himself as a petty mobster trying to retrieve a stolen gun during a long, bloody night in a Gothic cityscape, and next year he'll be working with British director Adrian Noble on a film about the writer Ernest Hemingway.

Running Scared is a pretty dark movie. Does it shock people?

Oh yeah. You know what I like? Everyone has an opinion. Whether it's "wow it's a shocker" or "God that's the most screwed-up movie I've ever seen." Whether they like the movie or not, at least I have some idea of what they thought! One guy said we made Scarface look like children's TV.

The character you play is much more ambiguous than the action heroes you're best known for. How did you approach that?

It wasn't a stretch for me, because the first thing I thought when I read it was, "This guy is really close to who I am." There wasn't a single moment in the movie where I thought I would handle a situation differently from the character.

It was tough. Imagine going to work every day, running around with a gun screaming your frigging lungs out. I was so drained every day, and it was impossible to leave it at the workplace. I'm not a Method-type actor at all, but a girlfriend of mine came out to visit, and after three days she pulled me aside and said she had to to leave. I asked her why, and she said, "Because you scare me. You're in a dark place."

I heard you had a few clashes with the director, Wayne Kramer.

Yeah, that was before we got onto principal photography. I was dealing with family drama and all kinds of things. But the guy was relentless. There's more to life than movies. There was a point when I almost lost the job, becase he couldn't get hold of me, he questioned my focus and my intent. Anyway I finally got hold of him and I said, "Wayne, look I'm there, I'm not going to let you down."

But you get along OK now?

Now we're like brothers, we're forming a production company together, and we're going to make a movie together at least every other year. He's like David Fincher to me. If I have any kind of shot at something substantial, he's the guy that's going to make it happen.

You seem to spend almost the entire movie acting opposite children. Was that difficult for you?

Well, kids aren't self aware. Maybe they're limited, and there are times when they have a hard time finding the place they need to be, but I grew up in a big family, and I think I work well with kids. They helped us keep it honest, and they help you maintain a perspective, because they're not affected yet. They're just excited to be on a movie set.

Is Running Scared a deliberate move away from action movies?

Ah, I don't know what direction I'm heading in, I just try to live it one day at a time. I hope I'm in a position to make stuff that I really want to make as opposed to stuff that I just have to make for money reasons, or to sustain a certain marquee value. It seems to be that that's where I am right now. I just hope it lasts more than five minutes.

In your next project you're working with Adrian Noble (former artistic director of the RSC) and Anthony Hopkins. That's got to be daunting.

It's funny, you know, I haven't spent a whole lot time in London, and I had this idea of Englishmen being real snooty. I'm not the least bit polished, I come from a blue collar background and I never thought I could feel comfortable around the English. I had to go and have dinner with Adrian. I knew he was a theatre director and I thought for crying out loud; there's no way I can get along with this guy! But he took that stereotype and turned it right on its ass, because he is the coolest guy. He's so real. I'm excited.

Running Scared is released in UK cinemas on Friday 6th January 2006.