Connelly's role as mourning mother took its toll

Actress Jennifer Connelly was so affected by her latest role as a mother mourning the death of her child, she started stressing out on set.

Connelly tried to avoid thinking about her two sons as she made 'Reservation Road', but she could not avoid the obvious - her 10-year-old son Kai is the same age as the boy who dies in the film.

"I tried my hardest to really separate it (filming) from my personal life," she says. "I didn't let myself think about my own family and my own kids. It feels too exploitative - but I was having nightmares and having a hard time sleeping.

"Then my jaw kept locking up, and I couldn't eat. I got a week into it and thought: 'What have I done to myself?'"