Up, up and away! The proof that Bodyguard Richard Madden’s career is really taking off

BODYGUARD star Richard Madden offers very close protection to co-star Priyanka Chopra as they soar through the air on the set of their latest blockbuster.

The 34-year-old became such a sensation in the BBC drama opposite Keeley Hawes that he was tipped as a future James Bond. And he showed a daring worthy of 007 himself as he dangled from a harness while filming a different big-budget spy project, Amazon’s forthcoming Citadel series.

Madden, wearing a futuristic khaki outfit, placed his arm protectively around his 38-yearold co-star as they shot their stunts in a Surrey woodland last week. Ms Chopra, a former Miss

World who has enjoyed success in Hollywood and Bollywood, donned a silver and black twopiece for the scene before jumping behind the wheel of a buggy bristling with weaponry.

During a break from filming, the pair were seen giggling as they looked at their phones. ‘They looked like something out of a Marvel action comic in those costumes, but when you saw them laughing like a couple of overgrown teenagers, the penny dropped that they were unlikely to be saving the world from anything,’ said one bystander.

Citadel, which also stars Stanley Tucci, is described as an ‘actionpacked spy series with a compelling emotional centre’.

Posing with a bouquet of flowers for a picture posted on Instagram earlier this month, Ms Chopra wrote: ‘Day 1 on #Citadel. Thank you team for a sweet welcome! Let’s goooooo!’

The series is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers behind several hit Marvel films, and will feature local-language spin-off shows around the world. Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said: ‘In Citadel, the spies are at the centre of the main series and their double lives will be the focus of the other shows.’

Madden is also set to reprise his Bodyguard role of David Budd, but it is unclear when filming will begin.