Charlotte Gainsbourg is "never pleased".

Charlotte Gainsbourg

Charlotte Gainsbourg

The 45-year-old singer-and-actress used to feel frustrated with herself because she could never be satisfied with any of her accomplishments, but now thinks her personality only drives her on to do better.

She said: "I'm never pleased. It used to drive me crazy not to be pleased about anything or that I would be so critical about any film that I was in. Now I'm happy about it.

"That's the way I work, it's a way of also feeling it's never finished, that there is still better to do. I like improvement."

The 'Nymphomaniac' actress - who is the daughter of model Jane Birkin and late singer Serge Gainsbourg - also feels more at ease with the fact she is shy, which makes her life much less complicated than it used to be.

She told Grazia magazine: "I've finally made peace with the fact that I'm shy. It used to be so complicated, I was scared of going into big rooms or doing interviews.

"It was a real violation of my intimacy.

"I just couldn't talk and I could always see journalists struggling with me. But now I just understand that's how I am and that I'm just a quiet person."

When it comes to fashion, Charlotte was always self-conscious about her appearance.

She said: "I've always been very, very self-conscious because I was well known so young.

"My sister Kate allowed me to let go with style for the first time She took pictures of me and made me wear Christian Lacroix, which she adored back then. It was very eccentric but I had such fun."