Damian Lewis tells critics they 'missed the point' over petition against him attending event at local state school

The actor is a local resident of the school

Lewis said his critics 'missed the point' (Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Showtime)

Damian Lewis has hit back at critics who suggested his Eton-education made him a poor choice for a guest appearance at a local comprehensive school by accusing them of “missing the point”.

Lewis was the subject of an online petition by former students of Acland Burghley school in Tufnell Park, London who suggested Lewis’s “elitist” education made him a “wholly inappropriate choice” for an event to celebrate the school’s 50th-anniversary celebrations.

However, the Homeland actor did attend the event at the north-west London school, of which he is a local resident.

According to the Press Association, he also responded to the criticism saying: “For those people out there who suggested by kindly writing into the newspapers this morning that perhaps I shouldn’t be here at all because I wasn’t at the school, what I would say to them is I think they are missing the point slightly because it seems to me that this evening is about more than that.

“It seems to me that this evening is about a celebration of our community here in Tufnell Park and the role the school has played here in Tufnell Park in the last 50 years.”

Critics of the decision have questioned why high profile alumni such as reggae singer Eddy Grant and Mercury Prize Winner Ms Dynamite were not chosen for the event instead. However, petition leaders were reportedly told by event organisers that they were unable to secure any ex-Burghley students from the arts world by the time the event went ahead.

The headteacher of the school, Nicholas John, has defended their decision to invite Lewis to proceedings, telling the Camden New Journal “the school he went to is of no consequence” and despite the “large number of prestigious alumni” the school has, the community “extends to people living in our neighbourhood”.