Ben Stiller thinks people will connect with his character Walter Mitty.

The actor, who plays the lead role in 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' and also directed the movie, says there are similarities between him and his character.

He told the UK's Metro newspaper: ''I do live in my head a lot [like Walter]. We all have things that we don't say and ways we want to be that don't necessarily come out in real life the way we want them to.

''Also, this story is about a guy who learns to live life in the moment. As I get older, that's something I think about a lot.

''As I start to feel life going by quicker and things happen that you can't control, I want to appreciate where I'm at.''

Stiller feels the character on screen is someone with whom many people can connect in today's ever more disconnected world.

In the movie - based on a 1939 short story by James Thurber - Stiller plays a man with a mundane life whose vivid imagination runs wild as he pictures himself as everything from a race car driver to a brain surgeon.

'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' hits cinemas this week and Stiller, 48, says he didn't plan for it to be a Christmas film but thinks it's a ''positive'' movie.

He added: ''It's open-hearted and less cynical than the movies I have directed before.

''I didn't think about this film being inspiring when making it. I just wanted people to connect with it because I connected with this story.''