"The Office" star and creator Ricky Gervais used to believe in Jesus Christ as a child, and he remembers being a regular at Sunday School but it all changed when he grew up.
"I did believe in Jesus, as a kid, because I was told to," he says during an interview with Deadline. "When an authority figure - when the leader of the pack - says, 'Don't go near the cliff,' you don't do it because it saves your life. 'Don't go near the fire. Don't go near the lion. Don't touch that spider.' They're for a reason."
Gervais adds that he thought Jesus was "cool," and he liked Him a lot because He was "kind" even though he was "half-God." The problem was, Gervais did not really understand how someone could be half a God and half a man.
"Didn't really get that, but whatever that meant, I sort of believed it because my teacher told me and the teacher never lies. They tell you all these things and they're true, and so this one's true, we just can't prove it," he says.
However, things changed for Gervais after he had a candid conversation with his 18-year-old brother. "Why do you believe in God?" Gervais' brother questioned him. Their mother quickly tried to reprimand his elder brother with a stern look and warning, but Gervais' thinking has already shifted.
"I knew from human behaviour. He asked a question I couldn't really answer and she didn't want me to answer it. I knew from that day and I worked out, 'Oh it's not true, it's a myth. It's a fairy tale,'" he says. "It's amazing how that stays with you. It's the difference, too, between spirituality and religion."
Gervais has been outspoken in media interviews about his atheism. In the interview with Deadline he expressed more sympathy with spirituality, which he defined as something personal - it makes you feel better, and makes you feel connected with the world - than religion which he said tells people, "You've got to believe in the right God, and you'll be punished if you don't."
The comedian's latest project is David Brent: Life on the Road, which will be in UK cinemas on August 19 and out in the US on Netflix later this year.
