Hugh Bonneville has lost his "faith" in Christianity.
Hugh Bonneville
The 'Downton Abbey' star has a degree in theology from Cambridge University and enjoyed learning about religion at the Church of England school he attended as a child, but he says he was turned off his beliefs by people he wished not to disclose.
Speaking to the Daily Express newspaper, he said: "I lost my faith for various reasons. There were people I looked up to who let me down in that regard I suppose. I will keep it as general as that."
The 54-year-old actor admits he went from lacking belief in God to believing nothing can be know of his existence, but he fully respects everyone else's faith.
He said: "I was quite happy with the fact that we are born, we live and we die. I did not need that extra step of faith. By the time I went to university I went from atheist to agnostic. I fully respect those who do have faith and I see what it means to them. That leap of faith is something I've not taken."
Bonneville fittingly heads to Jerusalem in a new documentary, 'Jesus: Countdown to Calvary', this Easter, where he will learn about Jesus' final moments, including his betrayal by Judas and crucifixion.
Asked why he got involved, he told 'USA Today': "It was quite simply that the religion unit at RTE got in touch and said, look, I know you did theology - is this an area you would like to have a look at again? And I said sure. They knew the synoptic Gospels (the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark and Luke, which tell different versions of the same events) were something I had been interested in and the road to Calvary comes up over and over in them. The synoptic Gospels are something I have a detective forensic interest in. But, as I said in the documentary, I haven't touched those books in 35 years."
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