Out gay actor Rupert Everett has warned parents against seeking gender reassignment surgery for their children.

The 57-year-old said he “wanted to be a girl” when he was younger, but that after the age of 15 he “never wanted to be a woman again”.

He suggested that children showing signs of gender dysphoria should be encouraged to embrace the “ambivalence” of their gender.

Everett, who currently appears in BBC1’s The Musketeers told the Sunday Times Magazine that he thought Caitlyn Jenner had made a mistake in going through transition and that she had “no clue” what it meant to be transgender.

Of his own experience, he said: “I really wanted to be a girl. Thank God the world of now wasn’t then, because I’d be on hormones and I’d be a woman. After I was 15 I never wanted to be a woman again.”

Adding that he thinks it is wrong of parents to “get medical”, Everett added: “It’s nice to be allowed to express yourself, but the hormone thing, very young, is a big step. I think a lot of children have an ambivalence when they’re very young to what sex they are or what they feel about everyone. And there should be a way of embracing it.”

Speaking of a pregnancy scare with his former girlfriend Beatrice Dalle, Everett said: “She and I often talk about what would have happened if we’d both had this child. And I would have loved to have had that child, actually. God, it probably would have been in rehab by now.”

Saying he was “turning into his mother” the actor said he planned to move in with her back in Norfolk.

Last year Hollywood star Matt Damon made controversial comments suggesting that gay actors do better if they hide their sexual orientation.

Damon made the comments about Everett, suggesting he was less successful because he came out as gay.

The British actor previously said for much of his career being gay seemed like something that would limit his future.

Everett is known for his controversial statements. In 2012 he said that he couldn’t think of “anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads”.

He added: “Some people might not agree with that. Fine! That’s just my opinion”.

In a 2009 interview with The Observer, he advised gay actors to keep their sexual orientation a secret in order to safeguard their careers.