Kidman: Sheep role made me act

Nicole Kidman was inspired by playing a sheep

Nicole Kidman has said she first got "hooked" on acting at the age of five - while playing a sheep.

The actress didn't get the role she wanted - an angel or Mary - in the school Nativity play.

But she revealed that the part - which saw Nicole don a decorated car seat cover as a costume - made her want to become an actress.

"Not my finest moment. But I felt amazing," she admitted. "It's the beginning of my whole career. I bleated through the whole play, and got my first laugh. And I was hooked."

Nicole, who is promoting her new thriller Before I Go to Sleep, said that she has not always been sad to wave goodbye to her film roles.

"Sometimes it's like ahhh, I can't wait to shed this," she said.

Asked which role she wanted to hold on to the longest, she said it was her Oscar-nominated turn as Satine in Baz Luhrmann's 2001 musical Moulin Rouge!

"I would love to be able to sing through everything," the actress added.