Zawe Ashton used to doubt her acting ability.
The 38-year-old star admits that the "unprocessed sadness" that she was dealing with in her personal life prompted her to have doubts about her acting talents.
Zawe - who closely guards her private life - explained: "They say the same things you struggle with as a person are the same things you struggle with as an actor.
"There was a point when I couldn’t cry on cue. I was like, ‘God I’m just a crap actor, everyone else seems to be able to act loads of stuff, and it’s just me.’ And, actually, it was me.
"I had a lot of unprocessed sadness and trauma that wasn’t ready to come out in my own life, let alone when someone snapped their fingers and said to cry on behalf of someone else."
The 'Velvet Buzzsaw' star actually moved to a seaside town in England in 2018 in a bid to put some distance between herself and the entertainment industry.
Zawe started in the business as a child and she feared burning out.
She told the Guardian newspaper: "I think it’s because I started young, before any pendulum swing in the industry. I’ve seen it all at this point."
Meanwhile, Zawe previously admitted that she regrets worrying about peripheral issues earlier in her career.
Asked what advice she'd give to her younger self, the actress replied: "Just make it all about the work.
"It’s all about the work, so let the work speak. Don’t worry if you’re interesting enough or beautiful enough or any of the 'enoughs'. Just go in, be prepared, and be malleable.
"I think [with] the time and energy I wasted on how I looked as a young actor, I could have built Rome. Let the work do the talking, because that’s what’s going to set you apart from everyone at the end of the day."
