The 65-year-old actor was cast as Father Christmas in an animated movie but his attachment to the unnamed project was short lived because he got fired as people couldn't imagine him as the festive figure.

He admitted: ''I actually played Santa once. It was a voice for an animated film. I got fired. I don't think people bought me as Santa.''

In 1999, John famously appeared in 'Being John Malkovich' - in which a couple find a portal into the mind of the actor - and though he was very impressed by Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze's idea, he was initially concerned that it would spark a ''sea change'' that would bring more attention to his personal life.

He told the Sunday Times Culture magazine: ''Before I did that film was the only time I thought, 'Listen, I have a pretty good life. I do my plays, my little movies, I go and do this or that, get my picture taken, but people pretty much leave me alone and always have.'

''I realised that film could be a kind of sea change. It was a worry. Because it was obvious that Charlie Kaufman is such a gifted and profound writer, pretty close to a visionary, and Spike as well, that people might really think that's my life. It's nothing to do with my life.''

Meanwhile, the 'Dangerous Liaisons' actor - who has two children, Amandine and Loewy, with partner Nicoletta Peyran - admitted his kids have never been big fans of his work and hated him reading bedtime stories when they were younger.

He said: ''Their mother read them 'The Cat in the Hat', 'The Stinky Cheese Man', 'Goodnight Moon', all that.

''English is her fourth language -- I'm supposedly a professional actor. But they would just go, 'No!' It's so funny, because they really hated it. They liked to see me play the guitar. But don't let him... act.''