Australian actress Nomi Watts regrets telling a journalist she had considered suicide before she had her big break in Hollywood - as she insists the comment was taken too literally.

The "21 Grams" star, now 36, admits she was on the brink of dangerous depression during hard times as a struggling actress in Los Angeles but was shocked when she realised the press had latched on to her comment, reports celebrity portal Femalefirst.

She had told a reporter: "I remember driving along Mulholland Drive, thinking, 'Maybe I'll just go over the cliff because I can't take it any more.'".

However, Watts explained: "That wasn't literal. For the record, I am not a suicidal person. But... I felt really badly when I read that and suddenly it's everywhere, 'Naomi Contemplating Suicide.'"