Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley had a bit of a lie-down and even occasionally nodded off while filming his latest movie.

The 70-year-old said he had the luxury of relaxing on a couch while making stop-motion animation The Boxtrolls.

He told an audience at Comic-Con that he used the position as a technical tool.

"I did most of my recordings lying down, reclining on a kind of sofa bed," he said at the convention in San Diego.

"I wanted his voice to come from his belly, not from where my voice normally comes from. It was a very relaxed recording session and I did nod off occasionally."

Sir Ben said he found it "very liberating just to depend upon my voice to bring this extraordinary creature to life."

The Boxtrolls follows the story of a family of underground creatures who collect rubbish at night to build their world.

Sir Ben's villainous character , Snatcher, is convinced the creatures are evil and aims to wipe them out.

Filmmaker Travis Knight said they were honoured when Sir Ben agreed to play the role.

Mr Knight added: " Snatcher is designed to be one of the greatest, all-time animated villains, so he's got to have that sense of malevolence.

"He's got to be very intimidating and yet at the same time, there's sort of a degree of vulnerability there.

"We thought there was absolutely no chance we would get Ben Kingsley. When he said yes, we celebrated throughout the studio."

During an audience with the cast, which also features Elle Fanning, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, cheers erupted for fellow actor Tracy Morgan, who was injured in a car accident last month.