Chiwetel Ejiofor has found lockdown ''intense''.

The '12 Years A Slave' star admits he has struggled during the coronavirus pandemic and he believes it has ''influenced'' the way he works.

He said: ''Lockdown has been intense. It has created all these primary emotions where you are concerned about loved ones. You're involved in the day-to-day lives of friends and family, because you have more time to connect and understand.

''Usually you're in so much of a rush that you just get the highlights. But in this period, I've been able to get the lowlights. That's been fascinating and I think that has influenced the way I think about work as a writer, director and actor.''

And Chiwetel finds it difficult to ''play a part'' that's not in him.

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, he added: ''You can't really play a part that's not in you. You can't write a part that's not in you. You can't direct a film, or anything without having lived that experience in some form. It doesn't have to be very literal, but you need to get under that experience. Anything I approach, I think of primarily in those terms. How do I understand it from my own journey in life? A lot of that falls back into the circumstances that you're in - your race, gender, class. They inform the choices you make and the little area you can illuminate and have a conversation about.''

The actor previously admitted he struggles to understand fame.

He explained: ''I don't know what all of these things mean yet. In terms of stratification, fame, renown, all these things, it's like an ongoing process of trying to work out what it means. Obviously, I'm aware that people react slightly differently to me. It's not like people were rude before, and suddenly they're polite. But yeah, you notice a slight shift, that people are slightly more aware of you - in the street, or whatever ... I'm uncomfortable [with] this abstract idea of a weird power that has to do with being not anonymous ... I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like I did before I was nominated for an Oscar.''