(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Naomi Harris finds working on small movies "more rewarding".

The actress, who has starred in big blockbusters including some of the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies, explained that on a big movie set she feels like a very small part of a big entity.

The 34-year-old, who is currently promoting her new film The First Grader, revealed that independent projects have a more intimate and creative feel.

"I'd done the big Hollywood thing, and it was great, but it's such a different experience working on a big movie," she told British newspaper The Independent. "You feel like a very small cog in a big wheel. Whereas when you do a small movie, you're a small band. There were nine of us who came out of England to do The First Grader and went to Kenya. So you feel really included, you feel like a family. You feel like you can contribute on the script. On all areas, you're hands on. It's just a different experience. It's just more rewarding. More creative."

The First Grader is set in Africa and tells the true story of an 84-year-old Kenyan who goes back to school.

Naomi, who plays good-hearted teacher Jane Obinchu, explained working in an African school affected her deeply. To shoot the film, the star actually taught in a local school while the cameras where discreetly filming her.

The local kids made a lasting impression on her. "I was looking at the children [here] who are considered coming from poor backgrounds and poor neighbourhoods. They have shoes, coats and toys. And they're considered poor. Go to Kenya and the children have literally nothing. Their shoes were falling apart," she said. "They were so different to any other children that I'd met. Really reserved and really shy. Really gentle. Really innocent. So it takes them a long time to warm up to you. It was actually frustrating and upsetting in the beginning. I kept thinking 'What is wrong with me? Why won't they talk to me? Why won't they play with me?'" (C) Cover Media