Robin Wright skinned animal on movie directorial debut Land

Robin Wright's biggest challenge on her movie directorial debut 'Land' was skinning an animal.

The 54-year-old star helmed the film and also stars as Edee - a lawyer who takes herself off grid and travels to the most unpopulated area in the United States - and the actress admitted she was left "shocked" by the animal skinning process.

Wright - who has directed 10 episodes of Netflix drama 'House of Cards' - said: "It was stomaching the skinning of the animal. And I eat meat.

"But I just - I don't want to see that. You don't think it's going to shock you. And it does.

"I mean, you couldn't have a more distant comparison between what it was like shooting ‘House of Cards’ to shooting and directing 'Land'.

"[For 'House of Cards'] we were on a stage outside of Baltimore for six years on sets in an airplane hangar.

"This was a completely different beast because you're dealing with nature."

But the movie - which also stars Demián Bichir and Kim Dickens - nearly didn't make it to screens, as Wright admitted she was "ready to throw in the towel" when pitching the motion picture at the Cannes Film Festival, but her final meeting of the day, with Focus Features, proved to be successful.

Speaking to USA Today, she added: "No one was biting. I was like, I don't think this is going to work.

"I don't think anybody wants to see this movie. And I was ready to throw in the towel."