Christian Slater has insisted that he is nothing like the rebel characters he plays on screen.

Christian Slater

Christian Slater

The 47-year-old actor has enjoyed playing wild alter egos such as JD in 'Heathers' and Mark Hunter in 'Pump Up The Volume', but he insists he is very different in "real life".

Speaking to America's GQ magazine, he said: "I love getting the opportunity to play those characters. I think in the real world I'm certainly a little bit more soft spoken."

"I don't know if I've ever been particularly verbal or had anarchistic type thoughts."

However, Christian hasn't necessarily always been as "soft spoken" as he claims he is now.

In the earlier days of his career he turned to drugs and alcohol and ended up with stints in both rehab and jail, but the actor insists he has changed a lot now and he doesn't want to dwell on the past as he no longer even thinks about his previous wild antics.

He said: "Here I am living my life and it's just this calm set of leaves and resting on a nice pool of water, and then a journalist comes in and says let's go, let's stir it up, let's think about things you haven't thought about in 25 years."

Now, the actor is working on the thrilling drama series 'Mr. Robot', which sees him play the anarchist role yet again, in the form of the titular character.

And Christian couldn't be happier, admitting his first day on set with co-star Rami Malek, and the show's creator Sam Esmail was "perfect".

He said: "We were just having a great time. I was getting to know Sam. I was getting to know Rami. And it was sort of a perfect--it was a day exactly like this."