Rebecca Ferguson
Rebecca Ferguson in Paris on 13 March 2017 Getty

Actress Rebecca Ferguson has spoken of her belief in the existence of aliens, saying that it is "self-centred" to assume that Earth is the only planet inhabited by living organisms.

The Swedish star can soon be seen playing an astronaut in Daniel Espinosa's science fiction movie, Life, so it is perhaps only natural that she should have given some thought to the subject of extra-terrestrial life.

Speaking to the movie website Hey U Guys, the 33-year-old revealed that she is one of the millions of humans on the planet that believe in aliens.

Explaining her reasoning, she said: "I definitely believe that there is life is out there, and I think it's quite ignorant and self-centred of us to think that there wouldn't be, if you know how big space is."

"If you look at water found on the moon, I think that there could be parasities and for me, that is a life form."

The film Life tells the story of a crew of astronauts assigned to the International Space Station to investigate an organism from Mars. During their mission, they confirm the first sign of life outside of Earth.

However, things take a dark turn after they realise the organism is far more intelligent than initially thought and actually poses a grave danger to everyone on board and humanity itself.

Ferguson added that her involvement in the project has changed her outlook on life. "More and more after doing this film, I think I've looked up into the stars and just loved the emptiness and the void and the not knowing which I kind of find intriguing and scary [and] absolutely mesmerisingly beautiful.

"The way as humans we have created what becomes our own fear and our own threat, I find from a philosophical aspect very interesting."

Life is released in both the UK and the US on 24 March.