Brooklyn Decker almost "ruined" her own career by jumping into acting too early.
Brooklyn Decker
The 'Grace and Frankie' star - who has son Hank, two, and daughter Stevie, six months, with husband Andy Roddick - wishes she'd taken her time to study her craft instead of accepting big movie roles in the likes of 'Battleship' and 'What To Expect When You're Expecting' before she was ready as she admitted the "rookie mistakes" she made on the big screen have made it more of a "challenge" to be taken seriously as an actress.
Writing in Bobby Bones' new book, 'Fail Until You Don't: Fight. Grind. Repeat.', she said: "I actively went after my 'big break' and tried to ride that wave. I did it way too early.
"What I should have done is studied my ass off and gotten significantly better at my actual job before seeking any sort of employment. What ended up happening was I got a few opportunities before I was ready.
"I wasn't worthy or skilled enough, and I ended up making all my rookie mistakes on a massive stage (in my case, massive films). It almost ruined my career. I had to claw my way back to any sort of credibility. No one took me seriously. It's still a challenge today."
The former Sports Illustrated cover model still wishes she'd taken things more slowly and these days she better understands the "power" of "delayed gratification".
In the extract, obtained by 'Entertainment Tonight', the 31-year-old beauty continued: "I wish I had taken the time to lay the foundation of a career. I wish I had made all those mistakes on a smaller, more forgiving stage.
"I wish I hadn't sought out opportunity and success, and instead worked to make sure that I was 100 percent ready when the opportunity actually did come my way.
"We're moving away from this as a culture -- but there's a lot of power in delayed gratification. I wish I had known that before."
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