Reese Witherspoon says hosting the first Saturday Night Live after 9/11 was "too much responsibility"

She told Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast: "I would give that [hosting experience] zero stars. Do not recommend."

She added: "It was just too much responsibility for a 24-year-old girl."

Reese, now 49, recalled how SNL creator Lorne Michaels pleaded with her not to drop out, as he insisted the public needed to "get back the national spirit."

She added: "Lorne Michaels called me and he said, I really need you to show up. I really, really need this. Rudy Giuliani's gonna be here.

"All the firefighters are gonna be here. Paul Simon is gonna sing. I just need you to come out and do something a little light and tell America, 'You can't feel sad. We gotta laugh again. We've got to get back the national spirit.'"

The appearance came after the huge success of Legally Blonde, while she was a new mother and had a lot on her plate.

She said: "I was 24. I also had a baby. I had a one-year-old. I was a new mom. I had the biggest movie come out that summer.

"But if you know me, if I tell you I'm going to do something, I mean there has to be a real disaster...

"We did it and it was good."

Reese admitted the experience put her off returning to SNL for well over a decade.

She explained: "I completely left my body. And did not go again for 15 years."

She kept her opening monologue "light" as requested, but some people on staff felt she should have acknowledged 9/11 instead of avoiding the topic.

Then-writer Hugh Fink previously told Rolling Stone magazine: "Not only was she not addressing 9/11, but, we're going in the opposite direction.

"We're not saying terrorism. We're having a host that's telling an old joke about a polar bear."

However, then-New York City mayor Rudy Giuliana made a speech with local police and firefighters by his side, and Paul Simon gave an emotional rendition of The Boxer.

When she returned in 2015, Reese told Yahoo! News: "I was so proud to be there and be on stage with firemen and Paul Simon.

"And Lorne Michaels, I think, did an incredible job getting that show back on its feet and making America laugh again."