Japanese film-makers have created a robot movie star - by casting an android 'actress' in a lead role.

The robot co-stars alongside a human in the film 'Sayonara' set in the aftermath of a deadly nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan.

The android, called Geminoid F, was designed to look and act like a human with rubber 'skin' and a woman's face - but it is unable to walk and is wheeled around in the film.

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The robot co-stars alongside a human in the film 'Sayonara' set in the aftermath of a deadly nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan

Geminoid F - or Leona in the film - is referred to by director Koji Fukada as an 'actress,' and the android is even listed as a member of the cast in the end credits.

While robots have featured prominently in many films, most are played by real actors or created using visual effects.

Geminoid F was produced by Hiroshi Ishiguro, a renowned robot designer at Osaka University in western Japan, whose androids come with a £776,000 price tag.

Geminoid F was cheaper - just £72,000, which Ishiguro hopes may take the technology closer to the mainstream.

She can smile, furrow her brows and move her mouth. It can also talk and sing - playing recordings, or 'mouthing' other people's voices.

The robot is equipped with motorised actuators, powered by air pressure, which allow her to 'copy' human facial expressions. In the film, it is controlled remotely from a laptop.

The android, called Geminoid F, was designed to look and act like a human with rubber 'skin' and a woman's face - but it is unable to walk and is wheeled around in the film

Geminoid F can smile, furrow her brows and move her mouth. It can also talk and sing - playing recordings, or 'mouthing' other people's voices

Prof Ishiguro has designed several robots made to look like humans in the past - even building one in his own image. The professor has said that one day robots could fool us into believing they are human.

In the film, shown in the competition section of the Tokyo International Film Festival, the robot stays loyal to its owner - played by Bryerly Long - as the nation evacuates following a nuclear disaster.

Fukada said working with the android was easier than directing people, although he said laugh he had to watch to not break the robot as its repairs would come with a 10 million yen (£55,000) bill.

'The android doesn't complain, never gets hungry and doesn't need to sleep at all,' he said at the film festival office.