Martin Freeman admitted it "hurts" when his children do things without him

Asked about his kids flying the nest, he told the new issue of Radio Times magazine: "Me and their mum [Amanda] don't live together so there are times where they're inevitably going to not be with you, or when they say, 'Maybe not this weekend.'

"It's hard not to feel hurt when they start doing things that don't involve you, even though you understand it and welcome it because it's totally natural."

The 'Hobbit' actor admitted parenthood left him "surprised" at how "amazingly quick" he can be to get angry so has always tried to be "better".

He said: "I found I was amazingly quick to anger. I always knew it, but it was like a rocket - nothing to call social services about, but I knew I could and should be better. That surprised me and taught me to try to not be that."

Martin - who is now dating actress Rachel Mariam - dislikes the "constant doom" around parenting because he thinks it is a far more enjoyable experience than people make out.

He said: "One of my least favourite things is people going, 'Oh, you just wait! Oh, you're in trouble now...'

"This constant doom, as if they hadn't enjoyed any part of their parenting. Let us enjoy it!"

Martin and Amanda previously worked together on 'Sherlock' and the actress - who is now in a relationship with Jonathan Goodwin - spoke in the past of how they kept their split secret six months before the news became public.

She said: "When we broke up nobody knew, we didn't tell anybody except for a few key people because they had to know, because of the logistics of hotels and stuff.

"It took six months for it to get out and a lot of that was while we were working on Sherlock... We were professional and we were going to get on and make a show and be civil to each other.

"We still get on really well, we still really both admire each other as actors... he's a great guy, but we just couldn't live with each other any more."