Aloe Blacc found acting more challenging than making music.

The 'I Need a Dollar' hitmaker is set to star in the upcoming James Brown biopic 'Get on Up' and he admits that getting behind the camera didn't come naturally to him.

When asked if he enjoyed making the film, he said: ''It was a really new experience for me. I've never acted in a feature film before and it's challenging. It's a challenging career.

''Music is much more fun, now, but that's because I've spent so many years figuring out how to make music easy and mindless. Acting - I've got some work to do.''

The 35-year-old star, whose real name is Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III, was surprised by the lack of control over a project you have as an actor and likened the role of a director to the way in which a musician plays an instrument.

He told BANG Showbiz: ''You're basically an instrument and someone plays you. The writer of the script is playing you, he's stroking your chords. The director is playing you, he's the one smacking the drum and telling you where to go and how to do it.

''You're not in control of the material, you're not in control of the words or the time or the space. All you're in control of is how you deliver it and that is a very difficult thing to do and I commend all of the fine actors that I've had the chance to meet on that set.''