(Cover) - EN Showbiz - James Franco feels bad that he isn't always "emotionally available" in relationships.

The 33-year-old actor recently announced he had split from Ahna O'Reilly, who he dated for five years. He's currently studying for a PhD in Literature at Yale University in America and admitted his interest in education had come between them.

James has now admitted his failure to be there for his friends and family is one of his biggest regrets.

"Yeah I have a lot of faults. I do kind of overload myself, I feel bad that I can't be emotionally available or around as much as some people would want me to which had made relationships hard sometimes. I guess I figure I'll have a few more years of overworking myself and then I can settle down," he told Australian radio programme the Kyle and Jackie O Show.

Although learning has caused problems in his private life, it isn't something James feels he can give up. He's interested in absorbing as much as possible about as many subjects as he can as he thinks it makes him a better person.

He was jokingly asked if he left pressurised to study by his mother, but laughed she is now trying to break into acting.

"The funny thing is I'm at school now more than ever so I do get a lot of opportunities but I have to turn a lot of them down because I do take school very seriously. I know that sounds boring. I finished film school at NYU and writing school at Columbia and now I'm studying to get a PhD in Literature at Yale. It helps my soul, it distracts me so I don't have to worry," he explained. (C) Cover Media