Anthony Hopkins: 'I'm not an atheist'

Sir Anthony Hopkins has revealed that portraying a priest in The Rite forced him to reevaluate his beliefs about a higher power.

During an appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight, the Welsh actor asserted that he does not identify himself as an atheist.

"I'm not an atheist. I don't know what it is. None of us do," he said. "But everything is God."

The star added: "Everything is particle physics. I've read everything I can. I started reading Charles Darwin's The Origin of the Species. I believe in a God that [scientist Albert] Einstein believed in, a sort of [philosopher Baruch de] Spinoza kind of interpretation."

Hopkins further explained that he doesn't ascribe to any organised religion because he is mistrustful of any group that professes to know definite answers to the world's great mysteries.

He remarked: "I think [religious dogma] is dangerous. Certainty is responsible for some of the most awful terrors in the world… There's lines in this movie where I say, 'Cherish your doubts because there God is hiding'. I don't know. You don't know. None of us know."

The Rite is now playing in US cinemas and is released on February 25 in the UK.