Madonna "bends reality" on her film sets, says James D'Arcy.

The British actor stars in the 53-year-old superstar's new movie W.E. For his role as King Edward VIII in the drama, he was asked to learn to play the bagpipes in just six weeks.

After being told that this was near impossible by his tutor, James recalled how Madonna urged him to try anyway and defy his own expectations.

"I learned to play the bagpipes in six weeks. It's a good insight into working with Madonna because I went to see a wonderful man to teach me and he said Well, I can't teach you to play the bagpipes in six weeks, it isn't possible. After a year you might get a bit. But I can make it look like you're playing the bagpipes,'" he told Cover Media.

"So I emailed Madonna and said that was the case, and she said OK, fair enough, but I think you should learn to play the bagpipes. Just because somebody says you can't, it doesn't mean you have to listen to them.' And I thought Well, alright f*** it, what else am I here for? I'm here for the film, so let's see what I can do.'

"It was amazing and it sort of summed up how it was working with Madonna because there wasn't space for the word No'. It was always Challenge yourself to do more than you think is possible and bend reality,'" he added.

Unfortunately James' bagpipe scene didn't make it into the final cut.

But the star explained that it gave him an interesting insight into Madonna's mind and showed him what you can achieve if you truly push yourself.

"I went to the [bagpipes teacher] John Angus, and showed him the email [from Madonna] and we did it. I played three minutes of bagpipes with all three pipes," he proudly added.