The Amazing Spider-Man 2 star Dane DeHaan spent four months studying his idol James Dean in a bid to portray the late movie icon perfectly in new film Life.

The actor teams up with Robert Pattinson in the movie - about Dean's friendship with Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock - and admits he owed it to his hero to analyze his nuances.

He tells Wenn, "It's about two weeks of James Dean's life right before East of Eden comes out. Dennis Stock gets permission by Life magazine to do the first ever photo essay of James Dean. They go from L.A. back to New York and then from New York back to James Dean's hometown in Indiana. Some of the most iconic images of James Dean came from those two weeks.

"It's about a lot of things but I think it's about the photographer's journey and the influence James Dean has on him, and what it means to be professional but still have a place to call home. It's a pretty deep exploration in a movie that just goes into two weeks of James Dean's life.

"I was about 20 pounds heavier at the time. I had four months to prepare. It was a great luxury to have that time to read as much as I could. He's my favourite actor. I didn't know if I wanted to do that movie at first but when I decided to do it I wanted to make sure I had time to prepare and I could honour him as much as I could."