The actor speaks out on why Oscar Wilde's pardon is not good enough, as he takes on the role of the playwright in new film The Happy Prince.

"I think it’s a typical last fart of British hypocrisy really, because a pardon is not what Wilde needs. He needs an apology," he said.

"A pardon means the crime still exists, so it’s completely wrong."

Wilde died aged 46, broke and in disgrace, in Paris in 1900. The film's closing titles reveal how the writer was amongst tens of thousands of gay men posthumously pardoned by the British authorities last year for homosexual crimes that no longer exist.

• Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2lOHmNj
• Get breaking news and more stories at http://www.itv.com/news

Follow ITV News on Facebook:   / itvnews  
Follow ITV News on Twitter:   / itvnews  
Follow ITV News on Instagram:   / itvnews