The 39-year-old actor, who grew up in the suburb of East Sheen in South West London, said his "privileged and peaceful" upbringing pushed him to want to mess "everything up" by stealing a car when he was in his teens, reported Daily Mirror.
"It's the suburbs, the life is so privileged and peaceful and so bloody dull, it gives you the instinctive desire to want to mess everything up. I got arrested at 15 for joyriding in a stolen Mercedes. And for good measure there was a gun in the car.
The "Mad Max: Fury Road" star said these are the desires that drive him to take on "wretched characters".
"I wish I could say I have outgrown it but violence still has a romance for me. That's why I get cast as criminals, villains, wretched characters," he said.