Julianna Marguiles has hit back at fan criticism she should have renewed her contract with ER six years ago (00), insisting she "would have killed" herself if she stayed on the medical drama another three years. Marguiles devastated fans when she announced she was leaving her role as NURSE CAROL HATHAWAY in 2000, despite an alleged $27 million (GBP15 million) offer from bosses at Warner Bros to stay on for three more years. While her movie fame has failed to match her TV superstardom, Marguiles insists she made the right decision. She says, "I was bored. I felt like I had a great character and I'd done as much as I could with that character and I was feeling bored learning my lines for her again. I wasn't excited about work, and I certainly didn't want her to go out with a bomb rather than an inspiration. "I was 32 years old, I owned a home, had money in the bank, and I had two years of work lined up. "I'm not stupid. And the truth is, if I had waited two years to become rich, what if I'd gotten hit by a bus waiting those two years? Is that how I'm going to spend my life? For money? "If it's going to cost me my soul, it's not worth it. I was a waitress, if I have to I'll go back; I know how to bartend. Nothing's worth that to me. I admire the people that stayed, (but) I would have killed myself."