The Da Vinci Code star has lived in the U.S. with his American actress wife Jennifer Connelly and their two sons for the last six years.

But Bettany was relieved when the family moved from Hollywood to New York, because he didn't have to deal with the hordes of former British residents who have set up home in L.A.

He tells FHM magazine, "I think it's a fallacy about the English sense of humour. Los Angeles is full of English people that say Americans have no sense of irony.

"Actually, Americans have a lot of irony, and you just haven't noticed. That's the one thing I loathed about Los Angeles - the f**king Brits.

"I avoid the ex-pat community. You know what's so depressing? Going to pubs in America to watch football (soccer). It's not the same and I don't want to pretend it's the same."