Nicole Kidman convinced Naomi Watts not to give up acting.

Nicole Kidman convinced Naomi Watts not to give up acting.

The actresses became friends growing up in Australia and both moved to Hollywood to pursue their careers, but while Nicole became a huge celebrity and married Tom Cruise, Naomi found the path to stardom harder.

At one point she considered a career change, until she was given a pep talk by her friend.

Naomi said: "I'd been slogging away in Hollywood for five years, getting nowhere.

"At castings, I was constantly told I wasn't talented enough, I wasn't right, I wasn't beautiful enough, I was nowhere near sexy enough.

"I thought about quitting acting and took other jobs - in restaurants, on magazines - but nothing gave me the same feeling.

"Nicole actually gave me hope. She'd tell me that it would only take one film, one casting and everything would change."

Eventually Naomi, 41, got her break in dark thriller 'Mulholland Drive' in 2001, and has since become known for taking offbeat roles, appearing in 'The Ring' and '21 Grams' as well as box office smashes, including 'King Kong'.

Naomi recalled how she and Nicole later met up to read their respective scripts for critically acclaimed '21 Grams' and 'Cold Mountain' - for which Kidman later received an Oscar nomination - and couldn't believe how things had worked out for them.

Naomi added: "Once I'd been given the '21 Grams' script, I took it with me everywhere.

"We went to my house, and we were sitting on the couch reading our favourite scenes to each other. And we were like, 'Can you believe we've got two fantastic roles?'"

Naomi next stars in 'Mother and Child' about a lawyer who stars an affair with her boss, and also appears in the next Woody Allen film 'You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'.