Andrea Riseborough "bowed down" to Madonna after reading her insight into the famous love story featured in W.E.

The actress stars as Wallis Simpson in the upcoming drama, directed and co-written by Madonna. The story follows the affair between Britain's King Edward VIII and American divorce Wallis, which saw the king abdicate the thrown to marry his true love in the 1930s.

Andrea was impressed by Madonna's extensive research for the project and was in awe of her passion for the subject.

"Even more brilliantly [than my own research], when I came to the project Madonna had been working on it for ten years, so there was no leaf unturned, it was incredible. I appreciated that so much, it excited me so much. She was passionate about it and so fuelled with this story and uncovering what she believed to be the truth and all of that is within the script," she explained in an interview with Cover Media.

"When I read the script and the version of what might have been their life, it became more and more solidified as fact in my mind because all of the research I did supported it.

"I realised that I had to bow down to not only the amount of research Madonna had done, but the delicate and emotional way she understood their plight."

Andrea was amazed by Madonna's ability to emotionally connect to the controversial romance. The 30-year-old star found the 53-year-old singer's vision awe-inspiring.

"It's something very difficult to do. It doesn't matter how much material you have, you need the capacity to be able to understand it in a personal way," she added.

W.E. is released in UK cinemas on January 20 2012.