A MARTIAL arts enthusiast from Christchurch got the chance to feature in the new Hollywood blockbuster, Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Hayward Ho, 23, who studied at Brockenhurst College, worked alongside Jeremy Renner, who plays Clint Barton, and the stunt double for Scarlett Johansson, who plays the part of Black Widow.

He used a motion capture suit to play a robot in some of the fight scenes in the film, which also stars Robert Downey Jr, who plays Iron Man and Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, which is in cinemas now.

He said that filming for his part took place around six months ago in London and having seen the finished movie, Hayward is pleased to see that his role as a robot made the final cut.

Hayward said: "When I first saw Jeremy Renner, who is a bit of a hero of mine, it was incredible. You practice with a stunt double and then they put the actor in front of you.

"Seeing Chris Hemsworth running around was unbelievable and the best moment for me was fighting Scarlett Johansson's stunt double, who looked just like her."

Asked how others feel about his starring role, Hayward said: "Some of my friends are really supportive of what I am doing and others are a little jealous.

"It's something that I hope to do in the future. I've been training in martial arts since I was about four-and-a-half and I studied drama at college, but I just didn't realise that there was a job where you could combine the two and be a stunt performer."

Bournemouth Echo:

Hayward said that he would love to play a similar part again, which used motion capture suits and state-of-the-art technology, and hopes for a role with dialogue next time.

His proud mum, Janet, who runs her own martial arts academy, said: "He was studying law and forensic computing at Bournemouth University, but dropped out when he realised what he wanted to do.

"He has been trained by some of the top samurai sword fighters in the world and was head-hunted to be a part of the new Avengers film.

"He was put with the film's top stars, in the fighting scenes, and got to fight Jeremy Renner's character. Scarlett Johansson's character also killed and tasered him.

Bournemouth Echo:

"All of the moves you see in the film he teaches at the J H Action Fighters, so the club's members get the chance to be the Avengers' characters themselves."