Washington, Aug 21 : Penelope Cruz has said that she is hooked on to disguising herself because of the rush it gives her.

The actress feels the habit of assuming someone else’s identity is "like a drug.”

The ''Broken Embraces'' star revealed that she first started impersonating people in her mother''s beauty parlour when she was just a child.

"I would play with my girlfriends, pretending to be somebody else and I started to notice that that feeling was like a drug for me,” Contactmusic quoted her saying.

She added: "My mother''s beauty salon was the best acting school for me. I don''t know why, but women in a hair salon share their deepest secrets.

“I was 11 and I would sit there and pretend I was doing my homework but actually I was observing all of those women."

The stunner also spoke about the difficulties of acting in a film.

She explained: "I always feel scared and insecure on a film set. I don''t know any other way. Most of the hours you spend on set you are actually trying to hold on to the emotions of your character.

"Sometimes you will do a close up where you are totally distraught, then shoot the rest of that scene seven hours later. How do you hang on to that feeling all day without burning up, without going so far you''ve got nothing let to give when the cameras roll again. That''s a little bit like playing with fire." (ANI)