Kevin Costner says people tried to warn him off Croydon before he began filming his latest movie there, but he ignored them because he liked the sound of its name.

The Oscar-winner, 61, stars alongside Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds in action thriller Criminal, much of which was shot around Croydon College as well as in Kingston, Surrey Quays and Shoreditch.

At the Curzon Mayfair for the premiere last night, he said: “I was comfortable down there [in Croydon]. People kind of gave it a weird rep and I thought, ‘No, we’re going to Croydon, I kind of like the name!’ So that’s the way I feel about it.

“London is one of the great cities of the world without a doubt. Every morning when I woke up I was like a child almost, I wouldn’t know where we would be and whether it was upscale or whatever you want to say it was.

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"The neighbourhoods spoke for themselves. I grew up in the country, so city life is not something I have really experienced except when I make a movie.”

In the film Costner plays a criminal who has the memories of a dead CIA agent implanted into his mind.

He said: “I have played dodgy characters before — I’ve played a serial killer, somebody who thought he was Elvis and was kind of a mean guy… but on paper I had to ask them, ‘What movie did you see that made you think I could do this?’

And they said they had seen [2014 American Football movie] Draft Day, which is about as all-American as you can get. I was the head of a sports team — it would be like being head coach of Manchester or Arsenal.

“But then there was a moment in time where I thought, ‘I think I can do this. I think I can do this in a way that I don’t think people will expect.’ ”

Criminal opens in cinemas on April 15.