Colin Firth says being good-looking is a hindrance in modern society.

The Oscar-winning actor - who is a sex symbol for many women - believes beautiful people are often dismissed as being vacuous and stupid by others just as much as they are celebrated for their attractiveness .

Colin thinks the stereotype leads to beautiful people having to work extra hard to earn respect for their intellect.

He said: ''There was a time when a beautiful person was considered something fine and to be celebrated.

''Now a beautiful person is assumed to be shallow and flaky. If you are beautiful in today's society, you are presumed to have no substance.

''I think a lot of talented and very bright people who are also physically beautiful have to work very hard if they don't want to just lean on their looks ... I think someone that has the mind of a professor and also looks like they're in 'Baywatch' would just p**s people off because they don't want them to have all of that.''

Despite his incredible success, the 51-year-old actor also revealed his parents are not particularly impressed by his career choice.

'The King's Speech' star's father David was a history lecturer, while his mother Shirley is a religious academic and they only seem to be proud of his work if he appears in a Shakespeare production.

Colin - who is married to Italian director Livia Giuggioli - told website The Talks: ''I think they quite like it when I play a role that they consider to be rather worthy of the profession, a role where calling yourself an actor isn't an apology. It will inevitably be something Shakespearean that they consider superior. When I just prance around in 'Mamma Mia!', or something like that, I'm not sure how they reconcile themselves with the son they produced.''