Jennifer Connelly was ''into physics'' when she was younger.

The 44-year-old actress is very proud her eldest son Kai - whose father is her ex-partner David Dugan - is to study science at Yale University and she is convinced he will do much better at the subject than she did because he is ''cleverer'' than her.

She said: ''He's into physics. I was. But he's much cleverer than me.

''I think it was clear to me that I didn't have the facility with the requisite tools that, for example, Kai has, so I shifted to more theoretical conceptual physics classes.''

Instead, Jennifer - who also has kids Stellan, 12, and Agnes, four, with husband Paul Bettany - went on to major in English.

She added: ''That was more up my strada.''

The 'Noah' actress admitted different phraseology in the UK and US are a source of amusement for her and her British husband.

She said: ''You know the word 'bum bag?' Paul just could not contain himself when he found out that was 'fanny pack' in America. He thought that was excruciating. He really, really laughed.''

Though the family are usually based in America, they also enjoy spending time in London.

She told Tatler magazine: ''Stellan was born in London and I think we're quite well assimilated.

''We rented a house in Notting Hill for the whole summer last year. It was, y'know, one of those idyllic houses with a gated garden that the kids could run around in, with a climbing structure and a Wendy house.''