Kate Beckinsale says high IQ has been 'handicap' in her career

The actress was speaking on the Howard Stern radio show when she was asked about her IQ.

After calling her mum to check what the exact number was it was revealed to be 152 when she was tested as a child.

This would place Beckinsale in the 'Highly Gifted' category of the scores and in the top one per cent of the population.

The average person has an IQ of between 85 and 115.

Kate Beckinsale's IQ places her amongst the top one per cent of the population for intelligence (Matt Crossick/PA)

However, the actress, best known for her role as Selene in the Underworld film series, said it had not been helpful in her career.

She said: "“Every single doctor, every single person I’ve ever come across has said, ‘You’d be so much happier if you were 30 per cent less smart.’

“It’s no good to me, though. It’s really not helpful to me in my career. I just think it might have been a handicap actually.”

The 48-year-old studied French and Russian literature at Oxford University but dropped out before graduating to pursue a career in acting.

She is also fluent in Russian.