Julia Stiles is "grateful" for fame.

The 43-year-old actress has become known around the world thanks to her roles in films such as '10 Things I Hate About You' and the 1998 thriller 'Wicked' but even though being famous can be "a little scary", she is thankful for it because it has afforded her so many opportunities in life.

She told UsWeekly: "Right now, I try to look at it as something that I'm grateful for because it allows me a lot of opportunities. One of the reasons I got to direct my first feature is because people know me as an actress from movies. It can be a little scary, don't get me wrong, but I try to focus on the positive aspects of it."

The Hollywood star has made her directorial debut with 'Wish You Were Here' - which will be released in early 2025 - and noted that while it was always a "dream" of hers to step behind the camera, a lot of it came naturally to her because she has spent so much time on film sets to begin with.

She said: "It has been a career-long dream of mine to direct a movie. It took me about five years from reading the book to finally being in production, and it was extraordinary.

"I loved every minute of it."

"When we were actually filming, I was able to be on set and think, 'Oh yeah, I know how to do this,' because I've been on a bazillion movie sets.

""[Wish You Were Here] is a love story, and even in the five years it took to get it made, it feels even more relevant now. We need a movie like this more than ever because it's so hopeful about connection and falling in love."