Actress Carey Mulligan is searching for books to adapt for the big screen because she's struggling to find intriguing scripts in Hollywood.

Filmmaker Steve McQueen has urged the actress, who he directed in Shame, to find a novel she loves and secure the rights to make it into a film.

The Brit admits she's interested in the idea because she hasn't been "struck" by any female roles she's been offered recently.

She tells Little White Lies magazine, "For women you probably do have to take responsibility and create your own opportunities... Steve I saw in L.A. last week and he said, 'Go away and read stuff, find your own things and option books and whatever.' And that is something that I probably should do... But yeah, I can't write. Anything. So I'm kind of stuck there but I could get someone else to write something...

"There's no leading or even large supporting roles that, sort of, have struck me. And some are brilliant but they're things that I feel I don't want to repeat."