Nicole Kidman premièred her latest film at the Cannes film festival on Monday by hinting at a temporary retirement from movies.
Nicole Kidman arrives at Dogville premiere at Cannes
Critics are already predicting her performance in Dogville will win her yet another award to add to her Oscar for The Hours.
But Kidman told reporters that a new love affair might be the catalyst for a break from the movies.
"I think probably when I fall in love, that's when I will stop doing as much as this because I will want to settle down again," she said.
"This life is a burn-out life in a way. You give so much of yourself and
you've got to step away from it at some stage."
Dogville, directed by Lars Von Trier, sees Kidman play a woman on the run from gangsters who hides out in a isolated town in the Rocky Mountains.
The Danish director is once again competing for the Palme d'Or with this latest movie, having won in 2000 for Dancer in the Dark.
Kidman's challenging role in Dogville, filmed using just one bleak studio set, has put her in the running for next year's Oscar shortlist for best actress.
Kidman plays a woman hiding from gangsters in Dogville
She said that filming Dogville had been totally absorbing.
"I liked the isolation. We shot in
the middle of winter. I liked being away from everything and
getting lost in the process," she said.
Kidman jetted into Cannes at the weekend, after the girlfriend of her ex-husband Tom Cruise left the South of France.
Penelope Cruz had been at the festival to promote FanFan La Tulipe, which premièred on the festival's opening night to a less than warm reception.
On Sunday Arnold Schwarzenegger staged one of the most lavish parties at the festival to launch his return as the Terminator in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
The party was held at the futuristic-style Riviera home of designer Pierre Cardin, and the 1,500 guests included Terminator actress Claire Danes and Matrix Reloaded twins Neil and Adrien Rayment.
Although there has been much hype about the action movie, just seven minutes of the film have actually been screened to journalists.
Schwarzenegger also has a cameo role as a prince in the adaptation of Jules Verne's classic Around the World in 80 Days, which British actor Steve Coogan is busy promoting in Cannes.
Coogan, known for his comic creation Alan Partridge, is hoping the film will catapult him to international stardom.
"In the UK I did have a degree of success but I've done as much as I can do there. All I could do is repeat the success I've already had." he said.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was all smiles as he promoted Terminator 3
"This is a great opportunity for me to do new things and move the game on."
Also in Cannes from the UK, Scottish actor Ewan McGregor's film Young Adam has been singled out as a serious contender for the Un Certain Regard - special consideration - prize following rave reviews.
But the star has criticised the way in which UK films are funded following the experience of making the low-budget thriller, which was eventually funded by the BBC.
"The current climate was that if you were going to make a romantic comedy, then there would be no problem getting your money," he said.
"But if you wanted to make something dark and edgy, British film financiers were saying 'we cannot help you'."