Eva Green lacks self-confidence away from the camera.

The 'Casino Royale' actress often plays strong on-screen roles, but says this is a marked deviation from her real life character.

She explained: ''I'm not confident in real life. I'm drawn to play characters who aren't like me because sometimes they're the people I wish I could be in real life.

''If somebody annoys you, you say, 'Off with their head!' ''

The 34-year-old beauty started acting as a means of boosting her self-confidence and has been surprised that is has progressed as far as it has.

She explained to Britain's Hello! magazine: ''I was very shy at school - I never talked and thought I would pass out every time the teacher asked me a question.

''So I decided to take these classes to try to pretend to be somebody else and gain some confidence. I really enjoyed it so it went from there.''

The revelation is perhaps made more surprising given that Eva's mother, Marlene Jobert, also worked as an actress.

Eva explained: ''She was very successful in France but she gave it up in her early 40s. She said, 'This business is quite mad and I want to live my life how I want to live it, without people judging me.'''