Toni Collette on shaving her head for new role as a cancer patient

Actress Toni Collette shaved her head for new role and found it theraputic. Photo / Getty

Actress Toni Collette found it "cleansing" to shave her head for her latest role as a woman battling breast cancer in Miss You Already.

The Sixth Sense star has gone bald for several times before but felt her most recent attempt helped her create an emotional role opposite Drew Barrymore.

"I find it very cleansing," she tells US chat show The View.

"[One time I shaved it] for film and the other time I did it, I turned 25 and I had a lot of tequila and I thought, 'This is the best way to do it'."

The Australian star admits she poured herself into research for the movie, because she didn't want to "misrepresent" the experience of living with cancer at all.

"We had so many people who were generous with their time," she adds.

"People who had cancer, people who were in treatment, people who had beaten it, family members and all kinds of medical experts.

"I think it really helped me and enlightened me in a profound way."

Miss You Already centres on two childhood best friends battling major medical issues.

-AAP