Nicki Minaj has American Idol to thank for Cameron Diaz movie casting

Nicki Minaj has no regrets about her time on American Idol as the TV talent show helped her land a role opposite Cameron Diaz in a new comedy.

The hip-hop star bowed out of the TV singing competition in May (13) after just one season, but Minaj is grateful for her time on the Idol panel as it led to a part in upcoming Hollywood movie The Other Woman.

She tells Marie Claire magazine, "(Director) Nick Cassavetes goes, 'I've been watching you on Idol, and you're great'... I would be lying if I said I was not nervous (about acting in the movie). I can't blow this."

The Super Bass hitmaker will play Diaz's opinionated assistant, and admits the job is something she dreamed of for years while studying acting at New York City's famous LaGuardia High School for performing arts students.

She recalls, "By the time I'm 19, (I was thinking) I'm going to be Halle Berry status (sic). I really believed it and when it didn't happen, I started getting more and more crushed."

Minaj goes on to admit she may quit music to concentrate on acting full-time in the future, adding, "I at least want to do three more albums. If I can do that, I'll feel complete... One day, when I start getting a couple gray hairs, maybe it will all be only acting. I just never know,"

The Other Woman, which also stars supermodel Kate Upton, is due to hit theatres next year (14).