When Suraj Sharma, an unknown teenage actor, landed the starring role in Ang Lee's film adaptation of Yann Martel's book, little did he know what was in store

It would be an exaggeration, says Suraj Sharma with a laugh, to describe what he did in the adaptation of Life of Pi as "acting", despite the admiration he is swiftly accumulating for his role as Piscine Patel, the boy stranded on a lifeboat for 227 days with a Bengal tiger.

The terror of clinging to a homemade raft while perilous waves threaten to swallow you? Easy to feel when you have only just learnt to swim. Pi's drastic weight loss? Sharma felt it too, eating very little but tuna; in the film you can see his ribs. The dejection and exhaustion, adrift far from home? If you're tired and ravenous and have been shooting for several hours in a vast tank...