Javier Bardem says his marriage to Penlope Cruz adds "pressure and expectation" to his movie roles.

The actor married the Spanish beauty in 2010 and they welcomed son Leo in January the following year. The pair are famously private about their personal lives.

Javier believes his high-profile relationship with Hollywood star Penlope shifts attention away from his acting work.

"It brings some other pressure and expectation that maybe the movie doesn't deserve," he explained in an interview with British newspaper The Independent.

"It can help in some ways, but not in others. There is nothing perfect. You have your career, career is not a word that I like, I mean you have your job. And you keep on choosing based on what you have always chosen.

"There's no master plan. No, Jesus, no. I guess these ideas belong to people's perceptions from the outside. But we're used to that. There are perceptions from the outside and then there is us. The real us."

Javier says it's difficult to balance his Hollywood lifestyle with the impact it has on the rest of his life. The Oscar-winning actor appreciates doing something he is so passionate about though.

"I do a job and am lucky enough to do a job that I love, but it is a hard one. I'm not saying it is as hard as working in a coal mine, but it is still difficult in a different way," he revealed.

"Sometimes you have to go through very strong emotional journeys and then come back to yourself. And that can be difficult to control."