Antonio Banderas is thankful that "nature" corrected his ears.

The 51-year-old is currently promoting his and co-star Salma Hayek's new animation feature Puss in Boots.

Antonio voices the title character in the Shrek spin-off that follows the exploits of a debonair cat. Salma lends her voice to Puss' love interest Kitty Softpaws in the family comedy.

Antonio admits that he was not always admired for his good looks.

"When I was a little kid, when I was six or seven-years-old thank God for nature now but my ears were kind of [sticking out]," Antonio told Cover Media. "So they used to call me Dumbo. They are corrected by nature I said!"

Salma's peers also gave the actress epithets when she was growing up in Mexico.

"My nickname will not make sense in English. They did call me Salmita my parents, I know this is very boring, Actually I was the youngest person in my class and then when puberty hit like I was still looking like a little boy and all the girls were developing and they used to call me it doesn't work at all. It means the swimmer, but it also means the one that has nothing"

Antonio, who is also a native Spanish speaker, was happy to help translate the word to the audience.

"[It means] nothing here or here," he explained as he motioned toward his torso and posterior.

Puss in Boots is released in the UK on December 9.