Jodie Foster goes into therapy every time she finishes a movie project because she becomes a "total couch potato" when the job is done

She told the Wall Street Journal: "I work like a dog. I'm obsessed. And then I just want to go to sleep ... I feel lost if I don't have a routine. I'm a disciplined person. When I'm making a movie, I can't stay on my routine.

"I have four months of working 15 hours a day, and all I do is sleep through the weekend. I don't talk to anyone. I don't know what's happening in the news.

"I just have to look at the character and what I'm headed toward."

She added: "When the movie's over, I'm like: 'Thank God that's over.' I go back to sleep. I do nothing. I become a total couch potato. I get really bored. Then I go into therapy, and it all starts all over again. It's like a one-year cycle."

In the interview, Foster went on to reveal she's obsessed with naps, adding: "I admit I like taking naps. Sleeping is necessary, but a nap is just perfection.

"The perfect timing for a nap is 45 minutes or an hour, but two hours is pretty damn good."

It comes after Foster - began her career as a child actor -recently admitted she's doing the "best work" of her career now she's in her sixties.

The veteran film star told Variety: "I think I'm doing the best work of my life. And the dirty little secret is that I've never worked less in terms of my energy output. I just do what I think, and then I drink a coffee."

She explained she wanted to "challenge Hollywood wisdom" during her 20s but her mom proved to be a really healthy influence on her career and the choices she made.

The Oscar-winner said: "I was trusting a creative instinct, and she was giving me the Hollywood wisdom. I want to challenge Hollywood wisdom. She was guided by fear and convention. It was really clarifying, at 27, to say, I am not going to listen to your fears."