Bill Nighy has admitted he was paralytically self-conscious when he was younger

Speaking to The Times newspaper, he said: "I am much happier now being

64 certainly than I was being 44... or 24. That was really hard work.

I made a meal of being young. I do think I am probably more relaxed now than I have ever been."

However, despite his confidence, the actor believes it is down to luck that he keeps landing movie roles and knows that the jobs will eventually come to an end.

He explained: "There are jobs I can play at this age with this face, and the parts will get smaller... No, they will, because they just do, but that's all right because I don't burn for anything. I've been lucky, yeah, and I keep expecting it to stop... but it keeps going.

'How many parts are there for a lanky bloke of my age?' I keep thinking. And, the answer is apparently, a few."

Bill also credits his decision to give up alcohol for boosting his career as well as his health.

He said: "I have one thing to say about it and only one thing to say about it - without being anti-social - which is that I used to drink and it was terrible, and now I don't and it's absolutely marvellous.

That's it."