Colin Farrell and Downton star Jessica Brown Findlay brighten up a cold winter's night at premiere of A New York Winter's Tale

The 37-year-old Hollywood star Colin Farrell was on the red carpet at the Kensington Odeon with his co-star the Downton actress Jessica Brown Findlay for the prem of their new film A New York Winter's Tale.

The film is a fantasy romance and Farrell said he took it on precisely because it was so "unabashedly romantic and sentimental".

"I hadn't read anything ever that wore its heart on its sleeve with such pride as this film did," he continued.

"I just loved this film, the characters and the time period it was set in."

A New York Winter's Tale follows Farrell as a thief, Peter Lake, who ends up falling in love with dying Beverly Penn (Brown Findlay) whose home he burgles.

But when he is saved from a violent gang, Peter realises he has the gift of reincarnation and sets out to save the woman he loves in a romantic tale that spans generations up to the present day.

Farrell said of his co-star: "Jessica Brown Findlay made the experience for me, it was a dream working with her.

"A film like this that's a love story, your ability to flesh the story out in any kind of beautiful way is contingent on having a dance partner that you trust and appreciate. She was amazing."

Brown Findlay, who stars in her first major film role since leaving Downton, in which she played Lady Sibyl, said working with Farrell and the rest of the cast which also includes Russell Crowe, Will Smith and Jennifer Connelly, was a "pinch-yourself moment".

Also at the premiere was the film's director, Akiva Goldsman.

A New York Winter's Tale is released in cinemas on February 21.