Bodyguard on call, if he can have a nap
FANS OF Richard Madden are keeping everything crossed that the Scottish actor will be back smouldering for a second series of Bodyguard – but the sensitive soul will have to be enticed with a contract that is not only lucrative, but one that specifies a suitable number of rest days.
Madden, 32, who has been nominated for a Golden Globe for his role as the Home Secretary’s protection officer (and lover) says he didn’t enjoy making the drama because the experience was so draining.
“I had a lot of sleepless nights, and I was so exhausted that afterwards I didn’t feel like acting again. It took so much out of me physically and mentally. I didn’t see any of my friends for months.”
Indeed, filming by the BBC of the six How on earth have we come this far in the Brexit game without counsel from that political sage
He voted to remain, so does he think there should be a second referendum?
“No,” says the former Tory MP firmly. “I’m a believer in democracy. I wanted to stay in Europe but I lost. For me that’s the end of the discussion, so just get on with it.”
And what does Lord Archer think his idol Margaret Thatcher would have done in Theresa May’s place?
“She would never have allowed it to happen in the first place,” he huffs. “She’d have anticipated where we were going and she’d have stopped it.”
Jeffrey Archer? Christopher Biggins
just adores doing panto – this year he’s Widow Twankey in Aladdin at Bradford – but sighs that working with children can pose the odd problem.
“One year in Brighton we had five kids on stage and I asked them ‘What did Father Christmas bring you?’ One girl said, ‘Nothing!’ and you could feel the audience recoil in shock. I said, ‘You must have got something?’ She replied ‘No, nothing’. The audience were icy cold by this time. Then she said ‘We’re Jewish’. It got a roar of laughter from everyone.” episodes lasted five months. As his character – Sgt David Budd, a former soldier turned policeman – divides this time fairly equally between being shot at, wearing suicide vests and pondering suicide, it plainly took its toll.
“It was just relentless. I didn’t get a day off because my character didn’t get a second off. It wasn’t good for my health – you go home hollow, and then at night you’re dreaming about it.”
Which is all very well, but isn’t an actor paid to, er, act? Then again, Madden has form when it comes to stressing how much roles have taken out of him emotionally.
After filming his last episode of Game Of Thrones, the series in which he first found fame, he left the set in Ireland abruptly without saying goodbye to anyone, and took a night flight back to London. “I just wanted to get out,” he said in an interview for GQ magazine, adding that he was in such a hurry he boarded the plane still wearing a medieval tunic covered in fake blood.
“I cried all the way home, I was hysterical actually, I was so exhausted. The stewardess kept asking if I was OK, and then the people in the row behind me moved. I was sobbing and covered in blood. I looked like I’d murdered someone.”
So, an emotionally volatile chap then, but one who the BBC is desperate to sign up for another series, given that Bodyguard ended with 17 million viewers. Of course Madden will do it – just as long as he’s allowed plenty of time for restorative naps. Without giving too much away, those viewers who love might have to make the most of her in the forthcoming series of Call The Midwife. The actress, who will be 66 later this month, hints she may soon be disappearing as Sister Julienne. Lawks! Is the sainted creature about to be killed off? “No, it’s not that,” insists Jenny, “But Julienne has to face the prospect of leaving – heartbreaking for her as she loves the community.” While refusing to reveal the outcome, Jenny adds: “Her faith, as we know, is very strong and she never usually questions God’s will but this issue throws up such a dilemma for her.” Meanwhile Jenny is amazed it remains so popular after nine years. “I don’t think any of us ever thought we’d still be doing the show,” she says. “We presumed it would just be six episodes.”
Jenny Michael Grade,
a chap who knows nearly everything about television (he has been chairman of both the BBC and ITV) has given a glimpse into regal viewing habits. “The royals never admit they’ve watched things like The Queen [the film starring Helen Mirren] or The Crown, but of course they do.” He adds: “The Queen loved The Golden Shot [a game show hosted by Bob Monkhouse] with Bernie the Bolt. She’d watch it on Sundays at Windsor, when a trolley would be wheeled in with a TV and an indoor aerial.”
who was a self-confessed chocoholic before her recent weight-reducing regime, will be allowing herself a little treat this Christmas – her Mars bar fondue for which she has graciously shared the recipe: “I melt three Mars bars and then chop up bananas, grapes and strawberries and put them in the middle of the table with marshmallows. Then you let everyone dip in.”
Adds Dawn, who returns over Christmas in the Sky One drama Delicious: “I’m not saying my fondue is sophisticated but it is amazing. Honestly, you’ll win friends with this.”
While chatting at a party with
husband of Sir Elton John, I randomly ask him whether he had any posters of idols on his bedroom wall as a teenager.
“I had pictures of Charlie’s Angels above my bed,” was his unexpected answer. “I was a huge fan of Farrah Fawcett. And later on in life I met her – the first time I freaked out but then I got to know her and she was very sweet.”
David
considers himself fulfilled as a comic actor, although he was given another career choice when he was at Cambridge – as a spy. While he was reading geography at St John’s College, Hugh was approached by a recruitment officer for MI5 and took up the offer of a selection interview in London. But he wasn’t really James Bond material. “I would have been a desperately bad spy,” admits Hugh, the son of a retired bishop. “Actors have this thing of going ‘Look at me, look at me!’ And spies have to be more ‘Don’t look at me’.”