SEEING himself on the big screen isn’t just a dream come true for Lee Craven – it is also evidence of how far he has come from crippling depression.

As Lee talks animatedly about flying to Hollywood for auditions and movie wrap parties, it’s hard to believe that just a few years ago he was so severely depressed that he could barely leave his mother’s house.

“I couldn’t do much beyond go to the local shops,” says Lee, from Southampton.

He had been struggling with depression and when he was beaten up in the street he became so worried about going out that he became a recluse.

Unable to work and plagued with compulsive thoughts, he sought counselling and after eight months was able to get back on with his life.

He found work as a kitchen fitter – “I got back into the swing of life,” he says.

It wasn’t the first difficult episode in Lee’s life.

He was, he admits, a nightmare child.

He frequently got into trouble with the police and found himself in court.

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Lee on the set of Austenland

“I was hanging round with the wrong people and not really thinking about what I was doing,” he says. “You want to be seen as someone like them, and to be popular.”

Luckily when a policeman told him that he was likely to end up in prison it struck home and at 16 he decided to turn his life around, getting a job and keeping himself busy.

But it wasn’t until around four years ago that he developed his passion for the film industry.

It started when a friend took him along to be an extra in an Israeli film that was being shot in London.

“I really enjoyed it and started finding other extras work,” says Lee, who is sufficiently into acting to give me his ‘playing age’ – 25 to 35 – rather than his actual age.

“It’s fun, you meet new people and make new friends and the money is quite good too.

“My passion for the film industry has come from the excitement I feel when I’m on set, so the more you do, the more it builds.”

After a couple of years working as an extra, Lee decided he wanted to move into acting.

He is happy to take unpaid roles which he can put on his resume and gain valuable experience from, but has also had paid work.

His biggest role to date is as a servant in upcoming film Austenland, appearing alongside American Pie star Jennifer Coolidge and Jane Seymour, which is set for release later this year.

He spent a month on and off filming the role in the UK, between doing his day – or rather night – job of highway maintenance.

“It was awesome,” he says of filming.

“It felt like ‘this is where it’s beginning’.”

He has devoted his life to making it in the film industry – flying out to Los Angeles for more than 30 casting calls and agent auditions, taking courses in everything from pyrotechnics to stunt training (and, of course, acting) and setting up his own production company, Craven Films.

He has even written his own film scripts.

“When I was younger, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” he says.

“I got myself into trouble. Being on set and realising what I’m doing wrong and what I want to do, you realise you have to work to accomplish that.

You have to set yourself goals.

“Every time I’m on set, even if it’s unpaid, I don’t want to go back to my normal job – this is something I just really want to do.”

What’s more, Lee believes that finding something he feels so passionate about has helped him leave his depression and past demons behind for good.

“I definitely think doing this has helped me get beyond the depression,” he says.

“I don’t think I’d ever fall back into that stage. When you’ve got something good going on and a dream to accomplish, you stick at it until you hit it.”

Visit Lee’s website: leecraven.moonfruit.com/