Jeff Goldblum cut himself off from his parents in order to "survive"

He admitted to Britain's GQ magazine: "I didn't really see them, not that often.

"There came a point, you see, when I just realised I wanted to separate myself from my parents...

"They did nothing wrong I suppose. Have you ever read Philip Roth's 'Portnoy's Complaint'?

"It's about a lot of things, about rebellion, about breaking out of the norm, about not doing things you are expected to do and going against the grain, not being a cliche.

"I read this at 13 and realised I had to make some adjustments, I didn't want to repress or be repressed.

"People of my parents' generation were of the type to typically say, 'Smile, don't be sad' and to control all these instincts. The repression was great.

"I had a fever to let it out. And that ultimately led me to acting and to find an environment within which to do that.

"That's what all this is about really. To live for the sake of art and for the sake of my own survival.

"Maybe I could have found a way to do that and have a healthy, close relationship with my mother and father, but I didn't feel I had the ability.

"I didn't want to adhere to what is conventionally thought of as an obligation. One needs to break out."

But the 65-year-old star - who has sons Charlie, four, and 14-month-old River with wife Emilie - insisted his parents never disapproved of his career.

He said: "They were tickled by it, I'm sure. I remember my father came to see me in a play off Broadway in 1975, 'City Sugar', and he came backstage and threw his arms around me in tears. Can you imagine?"