Luke Evans has said he feels like he's owned his moment in the spotlight.

The 35-year-old Welsh actor has gradually risen to fame starring in The Hobbit and Fast And Furious 6 and now has the lead role in Dracula Untold.

Luke, whose first films were Tamara Drewe, Robin Hood and Clash Of The Titans in 2010, said: "I've worked very hard and haven't really stopped [filming] for five years. I've just been going at it and slowly making my way up this ladder, and I'm enjoying every minute of it.

"It's been a really enjoyable process, and I guess because I've worked so hard and I'm 35 not 25, I feel ready for this moment."

Dracula Untold is set in 1462. Transylvania has enjoyed a prolonged period of peace under the rule of the battle-weary Vlad (Evans) and his wife Mirena (Sarah Gadon).

When the Sultan Mehmed (Dominic Cooper) demands 1,000 of Vlad's boys, including his own son, to become child soldiers, he enters into a bargain with the Master Vampire (played by Charles Dance) - in return for being bestowed with the strength to crush his enemies, Vlad's inflicted with an insatiable thirst for human blood.

Luke revealed: "I liked the fact I wasn't playing the Dracula everyone knows. That's why we called it Dracula Untold, because it really is the untold origin story of the most famous vampire.

"We're dealing with the historical figure, a man [Vlad III, also known as Vlad the Impaler due to his favoured method of meting out torture] who walked this earth."

He added: "You're watching a man make decisions for the love of his wife and child, and the responsibility he has to his people and his kingdom. It's quite a tragic story, so to call it simply a vampire movie would be disrespectful in a way, because it's a much bigger spectrum of emotion."

:: Dracula Untold is in cinemas now.