Rose McGowan became a director because she ''hated'' acting.

The 'Scream' star - who shot to fame playing a witch in supernatural TV series 'Charmed' - felt that she wasn't getting the respect as an actress that she deserved and suffered a number of injuries on set.

One night she had an ''epiphany'' to move behind the camera.

She said: ''I was getting very injured by bad directors - I had three surgeries and paid $700,000 in medical bills. It was a tough time.

''One night the power went out in my house and I had an epiphany. I knew I hated acting even though I'm a good actor. I've always brought 150 per cent to everything that I've done, but there were so many people I worked with that weren't giving the same back to me. I realized that I was an artist and that I had something to say.''

The 42-year-old filmmaker is now working on her first feature-length movie 'The Pines' after she received critical acclaim for her short film 'Dawn' at the Sundance Film Festival last year and she has revealed the project is going to have a feminist message.

She told Prestige Hong Kong magazine: ''For a director it's the hardest thing to achieve. You campaign for Oscars and buy people off but not for Sundance. Every article was saying how surprised (they were that) I had it in me. But why? If a guy who'd done lots of action films did this, would they be that surprised too?

''I want to use my films as a platform to give people a voice. I'm currently directing my first full-length film called 'The Pines'. It's about a woman who's really lost and finds herself in the end. She's taken in by a family of healers and discovers her own strength. I have the script and am doing major rewrites right now. I'd love Ellen Page or someone like her to star in it. It needs a very strong actress.''