HUGH: I DUG A GRAVE FOR SIS
Actor’s killer instinct
ACTOR Hugh Bonneville has confessed he wanted to “kill” his sister as a kid – and even dug her a grave.
The Downton Abbey star, 59, admitted he hated older sibling Claire when he was a youngster because she picked on him.
Hugh was so sick of her terrorising ways that he went into his garden and started digging – but his mum did not take his threats too seriously.
He said: “Anyone who’s had an older sister realises at some point that they need to die or be killed. I think I was about seven or eight. Claire had annoyed me.
“So at one point I did say to my mum, ‘I’m going to kill my sister’ and she said, ‘OK dear. Dinner is at six.’ I said, ‘No, no, you’ve got to understand, I’m going to go and dig a grave now.’
“She said, ‘OK. It’s fish fingers. Is that all right?’
“So I marched out and unfortunately the soil in Blackheath, south-east London, was a little hard – but I managed to get about four inches down.”
Hugh, who played Lord Grantham in hit show Downton, recounted the tale on BBC’s The One Show as he plugged his book, Playing Under the Piano.
Fortunately, he did not go through with his plot, adding: “Anyway, I’m glad to say that I didn’t actually follow through and I actually love my sister very, very much.”