The star of such films as Remains of the Day, Silence of the Lambs, Shadowlands and most recently, The Mask of Zorro, has told a newspaper that he is disillusioned with the acting world. He said the environment was "distasteful and disturbing."

"Acting is bad for the mental health. I can't take it any more. This has got to stop. I have wasted my life," he told the Daily Mail.

"To hell with this stupid showbusiness, this ridiculous showbiz, this futile wasteful life," he said.

Sir Anthony, who was knighted in 1993, said: "I look back and see a desert wasteland. All those years spent in a fake environment. Everything was a fake."

'Ashamed' of his films

The actor, who has suffered from depression and alcoholism, said he has been struggling with the desire to turn his back on acting for five years, but only now had the courage to do something about it.

He admitted that he was ashamed of almost all of the films he had made.

"After 35 years I look back... and cringe with embarrassment and say to myself `How the hell could you have done that?"'

But he did say that he was also grateful to the business which has left him very well off financially. "I have made enough cash to last my lifetime," he said.

At the moment Sir Anthony is appearing in British cinemas as the character Don Diego de la Vega, otherwise known as Zorro, in the adventure film The Mask of Zorro.

As well as publicising this film, Sir Anthony has also been working on a film version of the Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus, which he will finish in the new year.