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People will be inspired by watching this movie. Were you inspired by making it?

Apted: I think so. I was inspired by the courage of it. That's something I hung on to in the casting process—that these were young guys. I think that's very important to be told—that you don't have to be an old guy to do things in politics. I was very inspired by that.

Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd, right) and Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch)

I was also inspired by the interesting differences between William Pitt [Wilberforce's boyhood friend who later became Prime Minister] and Wilberforce; a bit of that comes out in the film—Pitt's pragmatism as opposed to Wilberforce's vision. But you know, it showed me that there are many ways to skin a cat. Wilberforce's vision gave him tremendous strength and real spine to deal with all the comings and goings. And Pitt's pragmatism helped get things through. And I think a mixture of both is kind of the ideal, that people can have vision and also be pragmatic about it. I should think it's an interesting lesson in modern politics.

Wilberforce's faith comes through clearly in the movie, but without it being preachy?

Apted: That's what I hoped for, because I didn't want to put people off with that. I think also it helps generalize the film that you don't have to be Christian to be a man of principle. You could be a Muslim, a Jew or whatever, and be a person of principle. So I didn't want to make it preachy; I think it would have weakened the film to have made it preachy.

What can you tell me about your own spirituality?

Apted: I'm agnostic. My brother is a priest, oddly enough. We grew up in a fairly Christian environment, but I didn't pursue it and haven't as an adult. But I'm always interested in people of principle, and I come at it from that point of view.

The film is relevant now because it's the 200th anniversary of the bill, but also because slavery is still a big issue around the world?

Apted: Yes. In fact, there's more slavery in the world now than there was when this act was passed in 1807. You don't want to frighten people off the film by thinking they're going to be told off for not paying attention to what goes on. But I think it's very important, if it can be done in an interesting and compassionate way, to say to people, "Wake up." It's easy to objectify slavery by putting it into the past. But if the film, or the publicity around the film, can draw attention to the world we live in, I think that would be great.

That's another reason not to make the film preachy in a sense, because you want this message to get to as big an audience as you possibly can, and not just to a Christian audience. This message—that life isn't quite what it seems to be, and if you think things were bad then, take a look now—I think you want that message to be a kind of a bi-partisan or non-partisan message that can get to anyone in any environment in any country of the world.

Do you think this will rank up there with some of the other projects you've done?

Apted: I think so. You make films not for yourself, but to communicate to people. You'd like the film to have some kind of impact. I think the films I've done that have impact. I think I take more pride in the films I've done that I thought might have been good, but no one went to see.

I think my view of the film will be colored a bit by how it does [at the box office], not by what people say about it, because I'm sure we'll get mixed reviews. But what I'm interested in is whether it can find an audience, and change people's lives a teeny, weeny bit.

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Veteran producer Ken Wales, who recently finished Amazing Grace, the William Wilberforce bio-pic, now turns to John Newton's story—and a Chariots of Fire sequel.

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Ioan Gruffudd, best known for his role as the leader of The Fantastic Four, reprises a bit of history with his latest part, as the Christian abolitionist William Wilberforce in the new film, Amazing Grace.