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Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres

Actress Portia de Rossi has been encouraging her comedienne wife Ellen DeGeneres to quit her hugely successful daytime talk show and pursue other creative paths.

The Finding Dory funnywoman has been hosting the popular series since 2003, and she recently agreed to a contract extension, keeping The Ellen DeGeneres Show on the air until 2020.

Ellen's brother, Vance, has been one of her biggest supporters in keeping the gig running, claiming her uplifting segments and charitable giveaways bring joy to people during times of strife, particularly at present with controversial leader Donald Trump serving as U.S. President - but his remarks never sit well with Portia.

"She gets mad when my brother tells me I can't stop," Ellen confessed to The New York Times, as she promoted her Netflix special Relatable, her first stand-up performance in 15 years.

Explaining the reason for her stance, Portia said, "I just think she's such a brilliant actress and stand-up that it doesn't have to be this talk show for her creativity; there are other things she could tackle."

The former Scandal star is instead urging Ellen to consider switching mediums to host her own radio show or a podcast, insisting, "I don't see the end of her show as her career ending."

For now, Ellen is happy to continue being the light during dark times for her TV audience, although the 60-year-old would like to act more, and is hoping for the opportunity to shed her nice persona and play "someone unappealing."

However, that isn't the reputation she wants to have offscreen, and it's tabloid rumours suggesting she isn't pleasant to her show staff that really annoy her.

"That bugs me if someone is saying that because it's an outright lie," Ellen declared. "The first day (of the show), I said: 'The one thing I want is everyone here to be happy and proud of where they work, and if not, don't work here.' No one is going to raise their voice or not be grateful. That's the rule to this day."