Hugh Grant took The Undoing role to get away from his kids

Hugh Grant signed up to star in his new TV drama The Undoing as he was finding fatherhood "exhausting".

The British actor stars alongside Nicole Kidman in the new thriller series - but acting opposite the Aussie actress wasn't the only attractive thing about the project.

In an interview with Graham Norton the father of five, three of whom he shares with his wife, Swedish TV producer Anna Elisabet Eberstein, revealed he thought he needed a break from parenting - but ended up missing his kids so much he broke down on set.

"I did this job partly to get away from my young children as they are exhausting at my age," he explained.

"I thought it would be great to have a break but every time I arrived in New York I missed them so badly I was a mess, so every scene was suddenly a cue for tears for me. I'd even go into a cafe and ask for a cup of coffee and the tears would come!" Grant went on.

Revealing how age and parenthood have mellowed him, 60-year-old Hugh, added: "Having spent a career unable to muster a single emotion, I find in my old age I can't stop them. It's something to do with children or love, or my wife, or something, but I can't keep it at bay."

Graham's full interview with the Love Actually star will air on BBC One on Friday.