Ciaran Hinds plans to "work less" because he worries he's not up to the demands of the job anymore

He told The Guardian's Saturday magazine: "I've made a decision to work less. Every time I'm booked on to a job, I have to convince myself that I have the ability to do it - I don't have an innate confidence, and as I get older, the doubts multiply.

"Your brain's not working as fast as it used to, nor your ability to learn new things. I don't want to say yes and then not be fit for it. You have to be honest with yourself."

Despite working with the greats of filmmaking over the years, Ciaran has still felt he wasn't "quite worthy" of his casting.

He said: "I've worked with Scorsese and Spielberg and they were fantastic experiences. I'm there thinking, how the hell did I end up here? I'll think I'm not quite worthy, but I'll knuckle down and get on with it."

The 'Belfast' star - who has 33-year-old daughter Aoife with wife Hélène Patarot - has always been attracted to projects that "excite" him and he's never been ambitious enough to build a Hollywood career for himself.

He said: "I'm a very day-to-day person. I don't think of my career in terms of a progression. I do projects that excite me. If you want to be a Hollywood star, you have to have that ambition as part of your DNA. I just don't have it. That's why I bounce from place to place."

And the former 'Game of Thrones' actor admitted he isn't "very good" at red carpets and the other "glamorous" aspects of his work.

He said: "Being nominated for an Oscar for 'Belfast' was thrilling. I'm not very good at the glamorous side of the industry, but it was a great honour, especially because the nomination was for playing Kenneth Branagh's grandfather, who he cared for greatly."