Jessica Chastain misses her friends after shooting to fame

Jessica Chastain feels "cut off" from her friends because she has devoted so much time to her career.

The star has appeared in several box office hits in recent years, including The Help and The Tree of Life, and she hits cinemas again next month (Dec12) in her latest project Zero Dark Thirty, which chronicles the real-life search for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, who was tracked down and killed by a Navy SEAL team in Pakistan in 2011.

Chastain plays an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the drama, and the actress admits she can relate to women who devote their lives to their jobs - because she is one of them.

She tells Britain's GQ magazine, "When I first read the script, I was blown away by this woman. The sacrifices she made and what she had to do. It's something I still get very emotional about. What happens when you live for this one goal? And then you achieve it. When your whole life has been about solving this puzzle, this mystery.

"I can relate to those aspects of being in the CIA. For the last three years, my life has been work and only work. I do miss my family. I do feel cut off from my friends. Listen, I know being in the CIA is a lot more important than being an actress, but I do feel some empathy with the loneliness: you give away yourself."