Actress JESSICA CHASTAIN refused to hire an assistant in the early days of her career but conceded defeat when she struggled to deal with an avalanche of emails.

The star was thrust into the spotlight in 2011 with roles in a number of critically-acclaimed films including The Tree of Life and The Help.

Despite her rapid rise to fame, Chastain refrained from hiring any help until it all became too much.

She tells Britain's InStyle magazine, "I was like, 'I don't need an assistant'", and admits it took her eight months "of being really bad at responding to emails and feeling like a failure" before she took on extra help.