Kate BeckinsaleMichael Sheen has revealed that he and ex Kate Beckinsale let their nine year old daughter Lily pretty much decide her own custody arrangements.

The couple split up in 2002, when Lily was three, and Kate began dating now-husband director Len Wiseman - but she and Michael remain on good terms and the four are frequently seen out and about together around Los Angeles.

Speaking at the New York premiere of his new film Frost/Nixon this week, Michael explained: “It’s very relaxed and informal. We don’t work anything out too much.

“It’s up to Lily a lot of the time. When she gets bored of me, she goes to Kate, and when she gets bored of Kate, she comes to me.”

He added that Lily, who recently filmed her big screen debut as a younger version of her mum’s character in Everybody’s Fine, is “very excited” about drama and following in her parents’ footsteps but he has other plans for her: “I hope she’s going to be a writer. She’s a very good writer.”