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Sergio Castellitto's touching portrayal of Ernesto — an atheist fighting against Catholic hypocrisy — recently earned him the Best European Actor statue at this year's European Film Academy awards. During the London Film Festival last month, TIME's Jumana Farouky spoke with Castellitto about what makes a good actor, the controversy surrounding the film in Italy, and whether art imitates life.

TIME: How did you get the role of Ernesto?
Castellitto: It was Bellocchio who called me to play the role and gave me the script. The first time I read it, I didn't understand what the whole thing was about. I was quite astonished by the story and the role. But because I have great admiration for Bellocchio, I decided to work with him. We had several meetings and went through the whole thing. The script became much more clear, especially after Bellocchio rewrote some of it.

TIME: What attracted you to the part?
Castellitto: It's a very contemporary role. Ernesto is a man of today. He has a problem with the religious education of his child and I have children. The film has a number of human relationships, some of which are fine, some of which are not and that is what real life is about. I'm really attracted to playing roles that are similar to the life I am leading at this moment.

TIME: Did the similarities make you feel vulnerable?
Castellitto: The best conditions for an actor are when he feels vulnerable. An actor should always feel quasi-inadequate. That's how he avoids stereotype.

TIME: Ernesto's life might be similar to yours, but what about his personality? The character is quite sad. How close is he to you in that respect?
Castellitto: He's not. When he gets the news at the beginning of the movie — his mother is becoming a saint — it's very explosive for him. He's had a very difficult relationship with his mother, never considered her as a saint. In fact, he considered her as someone who ruined her children's lives. He has come to a point in his life where he has to sum up what has happened so far. Something very far from his present life is all coming back. Something he would rather forget.

TIME: Ernesto is an atheist. Are you a religious man?
Castellitto: My relationship with religion is different from my relationship with religiosity. None of us knows what's happening outside this world, so we all have a relationship with spirituality. To say that you are totally and completely an atheist is like saying, in some way, that you are God. And I don't think I am God. In Italy, there is a different relationship with religion than in the rest of the world. It has a physical, historical presence in our culture. We have the Pope right there, almost next door.

TIME: It seems that more than religion, spirituality is important to you.
Castellitto: Yes. The spirit is connected to the earth. We have two forces, one pulling us to the sky and the other pulling us down to the earth. Each one of us has to find a balance between the two.

TIME: The film must have been controversial in Italy.
Castellitto: Very. It was a big success in terms of box office and reviews. But the Catholic critics were strongly against the movie because they found it offensive. And it had a rating forbidding admission to anyone under 14 years of age, because it was considered blasphemous.

TIME: But the film isn't only about religion...
Castellitto: No, it's more about hypocrisy and the relationships between people. Through religion we get to something else.

TIME: How do you hope the rest of world will react to film?
Castellitto: That is a big question mark because when you present a film, you present a point of view. Each one of us reacts in a different way. Even in Italy, we presented the film in a number of premieres and each time audiences reacted differently.

TIME: In the film, your character has three brothers. In real life, you also have a big family, with two sisters and two brothers. That must have made the role a little easier to relate to.
Castellitto: Yes ... But it's very different. Although my mother is a very good woman, she will never run the risk of becoming a saint!

• JUMANA FAROUKY
• Italian actor Sergio Castellitto portrays a state somewhere between misery and passion.