Bean hates being away from family

Sean Bean says he will no longer accept roles which send him away from his family.

The actor, who has starred in numerous films including The Lord of the Rings, now wishes he had spent more time with his children when they were younger.

He explained: "I don't have many regrets in my life, but that has to be one of them - knowing my kids are growing up without their dad around," he is quoted by BreakingNews.ie as saying. "When I first filmed Sharpe I'd be away from them for months on end and that was tough. You'd go away in late summer, knowing you wouldn't see them again until there was snow on the ground and that was heartbreaking.

"My kids mean the world to me and I hated being away from them. So that doesn't happen anymore. Either they come to me or I go to them, if I'm working - I insist that happens. My days of being an absentee dad are well and truly over. I've been there and done that and I don't ever want to do that again."