Dustin Hoffman only agreed to step behind the camera for his directorial debut because his wife pushed him into accepting the job.

The Rain Man actor helms new comedy Quartet and admits the project helped him fulfil a long-standing ambition to direct a Hollywood film.

However, he initially planned to turn down the opportunity until his wife Lisa ordered him to take up the offer.

Hoffman tells British Tv show Loose Women, "The truth is that I was never offered anything to direct, because until you have done it you don't get offered any. Hollywood is a business and they are reactive - you have to prove it first... In this case, I was offered the film to do but there was a clock ticking - I either had to say yes or no. At the final moment I said no, and my wife said, 'No, you're not going to say no, you are doing it', and she pushed me into it."

In 1978, Hoffman planned to direct his movie Straight Time but changed his mind several days into the shoot and hired Ulu Grosbard instead.