Kim Novak was once hailed as the number one box office star in Hollywood, so it came as a massive shock when she abruptly left the industry in 1966. Now 87 years-old, Novak is opening up in a new interview about why exactly she made the decision to leave Hollywood at the height of her fame.

“I felt it was getting dangerous,” Novak told Fox News when asked why she left Hollywood. “I just felt like I was losing myself to all the characters and into the Hollywood scene. I suddenly became aware of that. Then I didn’t want that to happen to me.”

“I felt like I needed to stay by myself,” she added. “I had that same feeling for a while and I actually wanted to leave a couple of years before [I finally did]. And then the mudslides came. I lost my house. I lost everything. I thought, ‘This is the opportunity to make my move.’ I took it as a sign.”

After a mud slide destroyed her home in Bel Air, California, Novak decided to just pack up and leave, and she already had an exit strategy.

“I already had a house in mind. I did a movie with Jack Lemmon [The Notorious Landlady],” she recalled. “I saw a house for sale and I bought it the day before I left. I had never been inside the house. I just walked around it. It was right by the ocean. I just felt that this was meant for me. And I finally did it. I rented a car, packed up and took off. I just had to do it. Art has always been my safe haven in Hollywood and I had yearned to get back to it. It saved me from being a total failure in school. So it has always rescued me.”

When asked how she felt the first morning she woke up and realized she was no longer in Hollywood, Novak said, “Liberated. Totally liberated. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m going to live my dream and not for someone else.’ It was wonderful. My cat was purring, the birds were singing, the waves were crashing – we were all just content.”

“The first thing I did when I woke up was to get all my art equipment, set up my easel and look out the window,” she added. “I thought to myself, ‘This is paradise.’ Hollywood offers money and prestige, but nothing ever compares to that feeling I felt that morning.”

These days, Novak enjoys painting and taking care of her animals at her home in Oregon. When asked what life is like for her today, Novak said, “It’s really good. However, last month I lost my husband. My soulmate. So that’s been tough. But the first thing I did was paint. Some people said, ‘Oh my God, how could you do that so soon?’ But I had to. It was my way to communicate with him. It made me feel like I was right next to my soulmate again. Art has just been the answer to everything for me. I’m feeling very inspired these days. I’m letting out all of these feelings and not holding on to them anymore.”