Naomie Harris fulfilled a long-held ambition by working with Will Smith on 'Collateral Beauty'.

Naomie Harris

Naomie Harris

The 40-year-old actress - who is best known for her starring role in the James Bond movies - appears alongside the Hollywood star in the new drama film and has admitted she relished the opportunity to work with Will.

She shared: "I read it, it made me cry, the script, and I was just like, this is going to be an incredibly healing movie for a lot of people, and so I really wanted to be part of it. And also, I've wanted to work with Will Smith for a long time as well."

Naomie admitted the experience of starring alongside Will also served to teach her a few crucial life lessons.

She told RTE Entertainment: "I think the biggest thing that he taught me was the importance of being open to other people. You know, really that everyone has something to teach us.

"And the other lesson he taught me was how to be more generous with other people, because he said, 'Every single person you meet is going through something, nobody has it easy in life and you have the opportunity to make that person's life - even for a couple of seconds just by a smile - better, so why not do that?'"

This comes shortly after the actress revealed she found it "intimidating" when she discovered she was starring alongside the likes of Will and Dame Helen Mirren in 'Collateral Beauty'.

She confessed: "It was really intimidating I have to say. At the read through I was a bit like, 'Oh my gosh! I have to act with all of these incredible people.

"But they were so nice and so down to earth. Really, really lovely and so supportive."