John Malkovich found losing his fortune "freeing".

The actor-and-director lost more than $10 million in 2008 thanks to fraudulent investment adviser Bernard Madoff but insists he isn't bitter about the experience.

According to Bang Showbiz, he said, "It's only money. If you have the ability by the insane, fortunate nature of your life to make money, losing basically all the money I'd ever made is very freeing. I'm not unhappy. Some good things came out of it."

The Dangerous Liaisons star says his philosophical approach comes from meeting "real" people with problems when he was hospitalised earlier this year.

The star, who is directing at the Edinburgh Festival this year in a show with Julian Sands dedicated to celebrating the talent of playwright Harold Pinter, explained: "I had knee surgery this year and I was in hospital in Poland, in a clinic with real people who actually have problems, as opposed to me who gets paid a fortune to pretend I have problems. That's worth paying a few million bucks for."

While he is resigned to losing his money now, Malkovich, 57, admits his view of the world changes from day to day.

He added: "People are many things, myself included. Also, how I viewed the world on Monday may not be the same as on Friday."