The Martian’s Jessica Chastain has admitted that filming in a spacesuit is more difficult than you’d think.

The actress stars alongside Matt Damon in the new drama from Ridley Scott about a mission to Mars that goes wrong.

“Sometimes the air would cut out, and also you’re wearing all this stuff and you can’t take your helmet off by yourself, and then we had all these wind turbines chucking dirt and stuff during those sequences, and you couldn’t hear anything,” she recalled, looking back at shooting the sandstorm scenes set on the Red Planet.

Luckily, the film’s director was on hand to provide reassurance. Jessica explained: “Ridley, he’d be talking to you in your ear, and you’d go – okay. Everything’s okay because I can hear Ridley.”

Stars of The Martian
Stars of The Martian (Joel Ryan/Invision)

The legendary filmmaker, behind films including Blade Runner, Gladiator and Prometheus, was on her “bucket list” of people to work with, she added.

The Martian tells the story of astronaut Mark Watney (Damon), who is left for dead on Mars by the rest of his crew, led by mission commander Melissa Lewis (Chastain), after a fierce sandstorm. But Watney has survived the storm and must find a way to contact Earth.

Looking back on shooting the scenes, co-star Kate Mara – who plays astronaut Beth Johanssen – said it was all a necessary part of the creative process.

Kate Mara
Kate Mara (Joel Ryan/Invision)

“You know, they had these massive fans surrounding us, which made it hard to stand up straight. But all of those things were great for the movie because that was how it was supposed to be and feel,” she explained.

Kate, 32, struggled to get her head around the technical aspects of the film, in which the world’s scientists and the rest of his crew try to get “The Martian” back to Earth.

“That’s the most challenging part of of it, really – trying to get a good sense of what you’re saying and what’s going on so that you’re not just saying words, so that you actually understand it and believe it,” she admitted.

The cast were able to work with NASA and approach the space agency with questions in order to understand the science behind the film.

The Martian is in cinemas now.