An actress who swears by method acting almost died when she suffered the fatal "broken heart syndrome" after spending 10 hours filming a deathbed scene.

Elaine Rhoades, from Epsom, was performing the scene for boxing film C.O.O.L.I.O which is to be released in the summer and also stars boxing promoter Kellie Maloney before she underwent sex change surgery.

Ms Rhoades, who plays a gangster’s mother in the film, said she used method acting to immerse herself in her dying character’s sorrow but started to feel unwell after filming ended for the day.

The next morning, the mother-of-four was rushed to intensive care at St George’s Hospital, in Tooting, where she spent five days receiving treatment for broken heart syndrome - which is known medically as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

It is a potentially life-threatening temporary condition which affects those who have experienced severe grief, during which time adrenalin released by the body causes the heart to become paralysed.

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The 53-year-old, who has also starred in The Bill and Eastenders, said: "With method acting you become the person. It’s quite intense.

"You relate it to your own feelings and become immersed in it.

"It was 10 hours long.

"I started to feel very unwell and sick and tired and couldn’t get out of the role.

"Everything around me was not there."

She said she imagined saying goodbye to her own son when filming the scene and joked that her brush with death proves how good an actress she is - "but it could have killed me in the process".

"I didn’t know it would happen. I have done many roles which have been very intense and never had this happen before," she added.

"I thought I was going to die."

The actress said the syndrome had left no permanent damage to her heart and she would not stop using her tried-and-tested formula of method acting.

But she added: "It’s not something that is the right thing for everybody."

The syndrome’s symptoms include chest pain and shortness of breath.

Have you gone above and beyond for your job? Call Hardeep Matharu on 020 8722 6346 or email hmatharu@london.newsquest.co.uk.