I happen to think that Jedis are pretty cool.

All of which has led him to me: a floppy-haired nerd with a dictaphone.

Hes going to teach me how to fight.

Mercifully, Nick turns out to be a friendly guy.

I hate that, he says, contorting his face in disgust.

Americans always say that.

Will you be my sensei?

he continues, in a mocking transatlantic drawl.

I decide to keep my martial arts hoodoo to myself.

Im from Brighton and I know about fighting.

Fighting is about winning.

So dont fight unless you have to and if you have to, win.

Still, theres real thought behind the anarchy.

Loads of different people have to do [lightsaber fighting], he says.

You go with the way the person moves and you adapt the sword to that.

I ask if hes trying to reflect a characters personality through the way they do battle.

Its how it must be, he confirms, otherwise its just a fight.

After some jousting, we settle down to chat about his early life.

Gillard ran away from military school at age 12 to join the circus as a trick rider.

His work with the circus ended at 18, when a glimpse of Hollywood changed his life forever.

The die was cast, and soon enough, Nick was under the wing of legendary stuntman Vic Armstrong.

Some time later, he became the permanent stunt double for Tom Cruise.

I was in his contract, so I just went wherever he went, he says with a shrug.

Doesnt Tom Cruise do all his own stunts?

It was a cushy position, but it lacked the excitement he was searching for.

Hes much more free than that, says Gillard, waving away the idea.

I think he realizes that we all own it.

I suggest thatStar Warsis a lot more collaborative than the popular perception would have us believe.

I think youre absolutely right, Nick replies.

George hires the right people, he says.

People who care as much as he does.

I think: why wouldnt you just use it all the time?

Anger doesnt have a place in a fight, he tells me.

Ultimately, youll lose if youre aggressive.

Theres up to eight levels.

Anakin is the perfect example of messing with the established system.

Our time is almost up, but theres just long enough to pontificate on the essence of a stuntman.

Im trying to point out that fear isnt really fear, its just focus, says Nick.

Like if someone has a crash.

Theyll tell you in infinite detail something that happened in two seconds.

So it feels like fear, but its just focus.

Thats very profound, I tell him.