Actor Ellar Coltrane, who played the lead role in Richard Linklater's acclaimed 2014 film "Boyhood," has spoken about life since the film's release as it returns to cinemas for its 12th anniversary. "Boyhood" was shot over 12 years, following a Texas family through divorce and upheaval as the child actors grew up on screen, and it narrowly missed out on the best picture Oscar while Patricia Arquette won best supporting actress and Ethan Hawke was nominated for best supporting actor.

Now 31, Coltrane says he lives "in the middle of nowhere" and has largely stepped back from acting, working instead as a volunteer fireman and training as an EMT, though he still takes the occasional independent film role, such as in "Shoplifters of the World Unite." He believes he avoided the worst pressures faced by many child stars because audiences did not see the finished film until he was 18. The anniversary re-release, distributed by Independent Film Company through Mongrel, is currently showing in more than 100 theatres across the US and Canada, with filmed and live Q&As, including one featuring Coltrane and Hawke, planned throughout August.