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Hugh Bonneville shockingly revealed his late mother Patricia used to work for secret intelligence service MI6 - but he didn't find out until years later.
Speaking on the Rosebud podcast, Hugh, 61, discovered the information about his mum when he saw that her office building was up for sale in the newspaper.
The English actor couldn't ignore a surprising detail which read 'belonging to the intelligence services' about the building near Waterloo, South London.
Hugh explained: 'Mum and dad had retired. And I opened the newspaper and there was a picture of mum's office and it said: MI6 building to be sold.
'I rang mum, who I remember was in the garden - dad had to get her. I said "you worked at Century House? Well, that's MI6", to which she replied "yes dear".
Very surprised, Hugh quipped: 'You were a spy,' but his late mum remarked promptly: 'No dear, I did filing.'
Hugh Bonneville shockingly revealed his late mother Patricia used to work for secret intelligence service MI6 - but he didn't find out until years later (pictured in October 2024)
Speaking on the Rosebud podcast, Hugh, 61, discovered the information about his mum when he saw that her office building was up for sale in the newspaper (pictured in November 2024)
'I was so bowled over this,' Hugh added.
He asked his mum for more details on what did she do - to which she simply replied: 'Filing, I can't tell you anything else.'
'And she didn't. She never spoke of it,' the acting star added.
The Downton Abbey star also revealed that at his mum's funeral in 2014, he found out she sacrificed a full-time job in London to look after him, adding: 'I felt very moved.'
His latest remarks come after Hugh was forced to apologies to disgruntled literary figures after he joked about his new career as a children's book author.
In November, he had flippantly remarked that 'TV stars are contractually obliged to do [write a book]' as he admitted he doesn't have 'any ideas' of his own.
Hugh told BBC Radio 2: 'Anybody who's been on telly now has it in their contract that they have to write a children's book. So I am fulfilling that obligation.'
The father-of-one added that he was still in the early stages of the project and admitted: 'A couple of illustrators have suggested ideas, and it helps the writing, because I don't have any ideas.'
Surprised, he asked his mum what did she do during her employment at MI6, wondering even if she was a spy, but she simply replied: 'Filing, I can't tell you anything else'
Earlier in November, Hugh apologised to disgruntled literary figures after he joked about his new career as a children's book author (pictured in October)
His comments were met with swift backlash from both established authors and the wider literary community, many of whom felt his remarks trivialised the hard work and dedication required to write for children.
'How nice it must be to put minimal effort into something guaranteed to be a success,' one book awards judge wrote.
'How disrespectful to all the hardworking and brilliant children's authors and illustrators who pour their heart and soul into creating stories for children, and barely make a ripple. Come on @BBCRadio2, do better.'
Many in the publishing world voiced frustration over what they saw as a growing sense of entitlement among celebrity writers.
Author Tamsin Winter described the comments as 'soul-destroying,' adding: 'So many of us actual authors put our hearts & souls into writing books for young people, with very little reward other than knowing we reach the readers who need our stories.'
SF Said, author of Varjak Pawanother and winner of the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, shared his dismay: 'Children's books are THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS OF ALL!
'They're the ones that make us readers in the first place, and they shape us in the deepest ways.
'Anybody who's been on telly now has it in their contract that they have to write a children's book. So I am fulfilling that obligation,' he said
His comments were met with swift backlash from both established authors and the wider literary community, many of whom felt his remarks trivialised the hard work and dedication required to write for children (pictured at Paddington photocall in October 2024)
In response to the backlash, Hugh - who wrote his 2022 memoir Playing Under the Piano - issued an apology on X
'Some of us have dedicated our lives to them, so it's distressing to see them still being talked about in such a dismissive way.'
In response to the backlash, Hugh - who wrote his 2022 memoir Playing Under the Piano - issued an apology on X.
'Please don't blame Radio 2 for my flippant comment, which was in no way meant to denigrate full-time authors,' he wrote.
'Trust me, I am putting my heart and soul into the project.'
The Notting Hill star added that his intention had been to 'take the mick out of myself and the oddness of the writing universe'.
'I apologise,' he said.
English (US) ·