People News

Hugh Bonneville shocked by Presidential visit

Dec 29, 2012, 2:01 GMT

Hugh Bonneville

Hugh Bonneville thought visiting the White House was surreal.

The 'Downton Abbey' actor was honoured to receive an invitation to have dinner with American President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle last March because the first couple are such huge fans of the costume drama.

He said: 'It was rather strange - in a good way! To go to the White House is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In fact, the building is not that big. It's just a modest 20-up, 20-down. But it was a really special day and I felt very welcomed.

'At moments like that, you do think, 'My goodness me, this show that was very hard to make in a soggy field near Newbury has been grasped to people's bosom in so many countries.' You do have to pinch yourself.'

However, the 49-year-old British star joked that he finds it worrying the US government seems to spend so much time glued to their TV screens watching shows like 'Downton' and President Obama's self-confessed favourite CIA thriller, 'Homeland'.

He mused in an interview: 'Are the figures turning the wheels of power in the US sending out to their local shop for the next boxset, rather than sorting out their Middle East policy?'