Dujardin's run of awards season success kicked off when he collected the Best Actor honour at the French event in May (11), but he admits being congratulated by the acting icon was almost too much for him to bear.

He tells W magazine, "When I won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, Robert De Niro, the president of the jury, gave me the award.

"I was scared. It's not my job to win a prize, especially a prize from De Niro. He leaned in and whispered to me, 'You're good. You're good.' I had grown up loving Goodfellas, and I almost fainted."

Dujardin has had to get used to receiving praise from Hollywood's biggest stars as the silent movie continues to rack up the honours - The Artist has scooped 10 nominations for the Academy Awards, including a Best Actor nod for the Frenchman, who claimed the Best Actor award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday (29Jan12).