Ben Stiller explains why he stepped back from lead roles for 7 years before 'Nutcracker'

Ben Stiller has revealed he stepped back from acting for an important reason.

At the world premiere of his new film Nutcrackers on Thursday night, the 58-year-old actor revealed why he avoided starring in films for seven years.

"I've been working on projects as a director and producer for a while, and wanting to act, but I kind of made the choice a few years ago that I was only going to do something if it really hit me," said Ben.

"David Gordon Green (film director) emailed me one night, and for some reason I read it right way," said the star, who also produced the movie.

"Intuition hit me, there's something about this movie, I want to make this movie, I want to meet these kids," elaborated the Night At The Museum actor .

"I can't explain it to you, other than this feels like something I want to do and to work with David, knowing where he was coming from with it, it was such an organic, emotionally real place,” he added.

For those unversed, Ben was last seen in the lead role in his 2017 films Brad's Status and The Meyerowitz Stories.