Best known for playing Robert Crawley in Downton Abbey, Hugh Bonneville has been coming up with memorable characters for decades. He's appeared in movies like Notting Hill, The Monuments Men, and even had a cameo in the bond film Tomorrow Never Dies.
And, of course, the Paddington-born actor is also Paddington Bear’s foster father.
In his new book, Playing Under the Piano, Bonneville explains how his acting career's gone from strength to strength after his big break as the Third Shepherd in the school nativity play.
And he's been doing pretty well since then, but it seems not everyone realises that.
"There's a familiar phrase, 'You must have been so relieved when Downton Abbey came along.' Like I haven't been working for 25 years beforehand," Bonneville told The Project. "So this book is to put some of those ghosts to rest."
In recent years, Bonneville has picked up big roles as father figures. So, could it be true he's the reason that Paddington earned a PG-13 rating?
"When I dressed up as the Welsh cleaner and flirted with the security guard, that was seen as somewhat distasteful and, obviously, shocking to young children."
Finally, everyone has been asking about those rumours (which Bonneville may have started) about a Downton Abbey spin-off series. That, of course, will depend on the show's creator and writer.
"I'm going to have lunch with Julian Fellowes, and I'm just going to check that his oxygen pump is still working because we need to keep him alive if we're going to get any more stories out of him,"
So are we getting a spin-off anytime soon?
"I don't know. The last film was hugely popular, we were all blown away as we were in the very first episode," Bonneville told The Project. "I think if there's an appetite from the audience and from the filmmakers, then why not? But let's see. Goodness knows."
