Mira Sorvino turns down work for the sake of her family.

The 42-year-old actress - who has five-year-old daughter Mattea and sons Johnny, three, and 10-month-old Holden with actor Christopher Backus - admits her home life is her main priority and she refuses to let her kids get "raised by nannies" because she is away so much.

She said: "I don't want to take time away from my kids. I used to work all year long and basically live in hotel rooms. Kudos to women who can pull that off, but I don't want my kids raised by nannies. I have the best children and husband. I'm really, really blessed.

"I've made many professional decisions where I've been offered pretty intriguing situations both financially and career-wise. But they just required being away from home and I couldn't be without my children."

The 'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion' star admits her role model is her own mother, who gave up work in order to be at home with her children.

She added to Parade magazine: "My mother was a stay-at-home mom. She was amazing, always there for us. Somewhere I guess there is a middle ground, but you see your kids suffer when you leave them with someone else."