Ardal O'Hanlon has revealed that he was attacked in a church carpack by an angry Church of England vicar, who accused him of making a fool of priests on screen.
The Father Ted star, best known for playing Father Dougal McGuire in hit Irish sitcom, said the Church of England cleric aggressively approached him while he was in-between scenes for a job, and pinned him up against a wall.
“I remember one time, it wasn’t actually on set, I was filming something in a carpark outside a church in London, and the Church of England vicar who was in charge of the church he approached me in the carpark in between scenes, and he was very angry,” he recalled, during a segment on Claire Byrne Live on Monday night.
He went on: “I thought he was coming over to say ‘hi, love your work, but no’.
“He actually grabbed me by the lapels, and pinned me against the wall, and he had a real go at me for ridiculing clerics generally because of Father Ted and shows like that were making fools of people like him, and people weren't taking him seriously".
“And then he went on to explain the types of work he does, and of course I understand the type of work he does, it’s incredible the type of work these people do in terms of caring for the old and the sick and the vulnerable and the bereaved. And you know they work all hours of the night. And I appreciate that. But I don’t think gentle ribbing is necessarily the problem.
“I diffused the situation and he realised how lovely I was,” he added laughing.
Appearing on the show to give his take on the Will Smith moment at the Oscars on Sunday, he went on to condemn the need to solve issues with violence.
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The Death in Paradise star, 56, said: “But I think that is the key point..
"Going back to the Will Smith incident, obviously you try not to respond in the heat of the moment.
“Because once you meet people face to face and have a chat with them, you can usually diffuse tensions... we're living in this febrile kind of world at the moment".
It comes after Smith slapped Oscar host Chris Rock in the face on stage after the comic made a joke about the actor's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith during the ceremony.
With many questioning whether or not the incident was a set up, O'Hanlon told Claire Byrne Live that this wouldn't be it, "It is bizarre wouldn't it be the worst idea of all time, particularly when we talk about violence all the time, why would you choose that as a gag".
“Institutions like The Oscars are really careful and sensitive to what is going out there on social media, so [if they wanted to create a moment] this wouldn’t be it,” he concluded.
Smith has since apologised to Rock, saying his behaviour was "unacceptable and inexcusable".
"I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris," he said in a statement. "I was out of line and I was wrong."
It comes after the Oscars film academy condemned Smith over the incident and announced a formal review.
Rock had taken aim at Pinkett Smith's shaved head, a result of the hair-loss condition alopecia.
Shortly after, Smith picked up the first Oscar of his career for playing the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive," Smith said in the statement, which was posted to Instagram.
"My behaviour at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally."
Smith apologised directly to Rock, stating he was "out of line". He also apologised to the Academy and the Williams family.
"I deeply regret that my behaviour has stained what has been an otherwise gorgeous journey for all of us," he wrote.
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