Michelle Pfeiffer's years away from Hollywood as a stay-at-home mother helped her perfect her painting skills.

The Scarface star admits when she wasn't feeding kids and taking them to school she was in her studio with her art tools.

She explains, "When the kids were in school I painted, mostly portraits. Both painting and acting are about paying attention to detail and seeing things in a different way. I got so immersed in painting that I didn’t read scripts or return my agent’s calls."

Pfeiffer tells Ladies Home Journal magazine that her art hobby kept her away from Hollywood for longer than she had intended: "I probably would have done more movies had I not taken up painting."