Plan B admits directing is 'tough'

Plan B has revealed that directing Ill Manors was the "hardest thing" he has ever done.

The rapper - whose real name is Ben Drew - stepped behind the cameras for the gritty thriller, which stars Riz Ahmed.

"I knew it was going to be difficult, it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," he admitted.

"That was more because I didn't have the financial support I needed, and also the first time you do something, people doubt you and you have to deal with that. It's pretty tough.

"Luckily I had enough support and enough good people around me that did believe me. I managed to ignore the people that I felt didn't and just get through it," he added.

Ben gives himself a cameo in the film, which is in cinemas now, but didn't want a starring role.

"I didn't want it to be a vanity project. I didn't make a film so I could be the lead character so that I could better my acting career," he insisted.

"I want to direct: I want to make films, I want to tell stories. I didn't want the film to be about me in that sense, I wanted it to be about the subject."

There are reports that his next film will be about the city's Kurdish community, but he said: "I might need a break from all this political s***, I might make a comedy. It depends on how I feel."