Actor Nicole Kidman has revealed that she had almost dropped out of starring in 2002 feature "The Hours" due to her personal life issues.

Kidman said the producers insisted that she play the character of British writer Virginia Woolf in the 2002 film.

"It was interesting because I got very, very scared and tried to pull out of it because I was going through things in my own life," she said.

"I just felt 'I'm completely overwhelmed and is there any way you can cast somebody else?' To which they said no, get on the plane. Get here'. And then I just got so immersed in her. I started to she just came into me, I don't know any other way to explain it," she added.

The actor's performance in the Stephen Daldry-directed drama earned her the praise from the critics and she went to win the Oscar for Best Actress at the 75th Academy Awards in 2003.

Kidman also talked about the gender imbalance in Hollywood and said she has made a pledge to work with a "female director every eighteen months".

"I made a pledge a couple of years ago to work with a female director every eighteen months because you've got to act to change the statistics; I have to do something. We can talk about it and we can all talk about it or I can actually just get out there and do it," she said.

Kidman will be next seen "Aquaman", where she plays Queen Atlanna, the mother of Jason Momoa's Arthur Curry aka Aquaman.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)