Julia Roberts was asked to have her freckles removed for a movie role.

The 'August: Osage County' actress was asked by a director to have the facial marks ''taken off'' because he thought they made her look ''dirty''.

She said: ''One director wanted me to have two freckles taken off because he said it made my face look dirty.''

The 46-year-old actress - who has children Hazel and Phinnaeus, nine, and Henry, six, with husband Danny Moder - believes many older actresses ''radiate'' beauty because of their confidence and self-assurance.

She said: ''I definitely think some of my older female peer group are deeply beautiful women. They have this thing that radiates from them. It's coming from this deep place of understanding who they are and what their purpose is. It creates a light.''

And the 'Pretty Woman' star dismissed suggestions that ageing is a problem in Hollywood, dismissing it as a ''cultural obsession''.

Asked how she feels about ageing, she said: ''I don't spend a lot of time in the mirror. I'm pretty efficient in terms of looking at myself and, to be honest, I don't think what you're talking about is a business demand - it's a cultural obsession.''