Naomi Ackie pushed herself to the limit with her portrayal of Whitney Houston in 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody'

In an interview with The Observer newspaper, Naomi said: "That role pushed me to the edge, to the point where I was like, I have to change something otherwise I will shrink within this job, within this body, within the world.

"I was away from home, isolated in Boston for like seven months, and hungry - I lost about 30lb to get to the shape of Whitney.

"I lost a lot of myself, and not because of the art of it. It was to do with me feeling under pressure and trying to not be hated by the world - I was a catastrophic thinker, thinking I was never going to work again."

Naomi earned critical acclaim for her depiction of the 'How Will I Know' hitmaker but confessed that it left her at "rockbottom" and led to a rethink of her work-life balance.

She said: "It got me to such a rockbottom that it was a wake-up call. A job cannot mean so much that it steals my life's joy. I was like, we're gonna need to fix some priorities."

Naomi recalled how she wanted to be an actress as a youngster in order to be "famous" but was urged to take the craft seriously by her mother.

The 'Blink Twice' star said: "When I was younger, I was more attached to the idea of being famous. I wanted to be the best actor so I could go on a red carpet and do premieres - or be in 'Harry Potter'.

"Mum was like, 'Why would you want to be famous? You should be an actor if you want to act.' She was very keen that I do it because I love it, that I study it, and that I become a master of a craft, but never aim for being a star for being a star's sake."