Ethan Hawke admits he sometimes ends up in a "pile of dog s**t" when he "follows his nose".

Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke

The 'Boyhood' star has always lived his life and made decisions in his acting career based on his gut instinct but he'd be the first person to admit it hasn't always worked out for him both professionally or personally.

In an interview with the new issue of DuJour magazine, Ethan - who was previously married to actress Uma Thurman - said: "I've always given myself permission to do that cliché and follow my nose. Sometimes it leads me right into a pile of dog s**t, but often it will lead me to where my heart wants to be. In general, when you are doing what you love, things go well."

Ethan is in his fourth decade working in Hollywood and has acted in a variety of genres including action, drama and horror.

However, the 45-year-old actor has one unfulfilled big screen ambition - to star in a comedy movie.

Ethan - who has children Maya, 17, and Levon, 14, from his previous marriage to Uma, and younger kids Clementine, seven, and Indiana, four, with his wife Ryan Hawke - would love to star with his comic hero Will Ferrell in a sequel to NASCAR spoof 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

He said: "Nobody thinks I'm funny. I would love to do comedy, I really want to. My life goal is to be in 'Talladega Nights 2', or something like that, but I'll never get the offer."