Steve Carell worked with 'doll handlers' on Welcome to Marwen

Steve Carell found it interesting to work with "doll handlers" on the set of Welcome to Marwen.

The actor portrays Mark Hogancamp in the Robert Zemeckis-directed film, which tells the true story of how the American artist created a fictional village filled with sets and dolls in order to help him cope with the trauma of being physically assaulted.

During the shoot, Steve had to interact with many dolls, and has now described how there was a whole team dedicated to getting the figurines in just the right position.

"There were doll handlers - there were people who were specifically designated to pose the dolls, to help us articulate the dolls in certain ways. Because Mark Hogancamp is very good at it, he creates this world and is able to pose the dolls in ways which exude a lot of emotion in his photographs," he said in a video interview with Collider.com. "So, I had to learn, it was sort of a learning curve, because I haven't played with G.I. Joe (action figures) in a long, long time, and when I did, it wasn't artful."

The movie also stars Leslie Mann, Janelle Monae, Eiza Gonzalez, Gwendoline Christie and Diane Kruger.

Welcome to Marwen features a combination of live-action and CGI scenes, and during the chat, Steve also recalled the useful advice he was given by Forrest Gump filmmaker Robert on how to work in the space.

"You're just in this huge, empty room and you're imagining everything. He said, 'Think of it as really low rent black box theatre, you know, no props, no stage per se, just some platforms and it's all in your imagination.' And I thought, 'That's a really good piece of advice,'" the 56-year-old added.

Welcome to Marwen is now showing in cinemas.