Actor Oliver Martinez gave up his childhood dream of becoming a boxer after deciding he could make more money as an actor.

The 42-year-old star first rose to fame in 1995 film Le Hussard sur le Toit opposite Juliette Binoche, before gaining international stardom in 2002 with box-office hit Unfaithful.

But Martinez was looking to fulfill more athletic dreams in his youth - following in his father's footsteps as a boxer. The actor fought as a welterweight throughout Europe before he attended Paris' prestigious French National Conservatory of Dramatic Art and began to shift his career focus.

He says, "I wanted to be a boxer because I thought that's how I could make money. But I found a better way. "With acting you can do it for much longer. And, if I like the part and the people I'm working with, I love my work. You play a bullfighter, a race-car driver, you get into a world that you don't know and you learn it."

Martinez, who was raised in a working class Paris suburb, insists he is grateful for his international onscreen success. He adds, "The people I grew up with, some are dead and some are in jail, and some are just working to make a living. A lot of the time, when you are born in the streets you stay in the streets." (JMA/MV/IG)

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