James Franco is going to "settle down" in a few years time.

The '127 Hours' actor - who revealed last month he has split from his long-term girlfriend Ahna O'Reilly - "feels bad" about not spending as much time with loved ones as he could have because he's been "overworking" himself with his career and studies at several universities.

He explained: "I have a lot of faults. I do overload myself and I feel bad sometimes that I can't be emotionally available or around as much as maybe some people would want me to and it's kind of made relationships hard sometimes, and I do feel bad about that.

"I guess I'll have a few more years of overworking myself and then maybe I'll settle down."

The 33-year-old hunk takes his university classes "very seriously" as they are good for his "soul", though he admits it has meant he has rejected a number of acting opportunities.

He added in an interview with 2Day FM's Kyle and Jackie O Show: "The funny thing is I'm at school now more than ever so I do get a lot of opportunities but I have to turn a lot of them down because I do take school very seriously.

"I've finished film school at New York University and writing school at Columbia and now I'm studying to get a PhD in literature at Yale. It helps my soul. It distracts me so I don't have to worry."

James revealed recently that 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' actress Ahna ended their five-year relationship because his studying took up too much time.

He said: "It's over. That lasted about four or five years. We'd been living together in Los Angeles and then came to New York to go to school for two years. Then I signed up for more school at Yale. I think that was it for her."