Brendan Fraser's new film Rental Family helped him confront long-held feelings of insecurity.

Describing the project as a turning point in his relationship with his own self-belief, the Oscar-winning actor, 56, spoke at a question and answer session in London following a screening of the film.

Brendan told the audience: "I struggle with insecurity, and to make this film, it reminded me that I'm good enough, and I always was all along. Why am I giving myself such a hard time? It's there."

His comments came at the end of a wide-ranging and emotional discussion about the film's themes of isolation, identity and belonging.

Rental Family follows Fraser's character, Philip Vanderplug, an outsider living in Tokyo who becomes entangled in Japan's "rental family" industry - a business where people hire actors to pose as relatives or companions.

The film is directed and co-written by Hikari who said the story grew from an unexpected discovery during the pandemic.

She said: "My co-writer Stephen Blahut was randomly looking for a job in Tokyo, and he found a job such as rental family.

"I'm Japanese. I know nothing about the rental family business."

She added: "Pandemic really gave us distance. There's not really much of a connection in between."

Takehiro Kira, who plays a workaholic struggling with loneliness in the movie, said his performance drew on personal memories of isolation.

He added: "I went to the States when I was 15, and I spent many days, and Christmas nights, sitting all by myself in the room, like Philip was sitting on the bed.

"When I saw the film for the first time, that was a scene that made me cry."

Actress Mari Yamamoto said her experiences as a child moving between Japan and the UK shaped her portrayal of a former actor searching for purpose.

She added: "I moved to the U.K. from Japan when I was 5 and spent three years there, and then became completely bilingual. Thought I was British, and then went back to Japan again, and I found myself still apologetic.

"People want connection, but they feel meaning in being useful to somebody. And I think that's what really drives her."

Brendan also used the London event to praise his young co-star Shannon Gorman, calling her "a genuine article" despite this being her first film.

He said: "She has an ability to express herself with an emotional bandwidth that is astonishing."

Veteran Japanese actor Akira Emoto, who plays an elderly man confronting memory loss and mortality in the film, reflected on its themes through a translator.

He said the role was about finding "richness in life" even within solitude, adding: "Loneliness, is it something bad? I believe it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's not necessarily a negative thing."

The production, which was delayed by the pandemic and industry strikes, took five years to complete before filming finally began in Tokyo.

Rental Family will continues its international festival run through autumn.