Bodyguard star was there for me when dad died
Actress hails her Bodyguard co-star for his support after loss of her father
Bodyguard star Richard Madden would make a terrific James Bond, according to one of his co-stars.
But, Pippa Haywood says he made an even better friend when her dad died.
She had just joined the actor, who is being tipped to take over as 007, on set to shoot hit BBC drama Bodyguard when she lost her father, Keith Haywood, who was 90.
She said: “Everyone knows how brilliant Richard was on Bodyguard.
“But he was also one of the nicest people I’ve worked with because my dad passed away on the first day of filming.
“I was an emotional wreck and Richard was the most compassionate and extraordinary person.
“He treated me so well. We became very close.”
Pippa added: “My first memory of it is day one of shooting playing a high-ranking police officer while surrounded by a lot of people acting as police officers onset and then being whisked away to my dad’s home.
“There were real police officers there to sort things out.
“I was very grateful to everyone for sticking with me because I gave them the option to re-cast.
Pippa, who played personal protection officer David Budd’s boss Lorraine Craddock, added: “I was due to be in every scene the next day because we were shooting in Craddock’s office and I was not going to be able to film.
“They really were a kind, decent lot, especially Richard who is so adorable.”
Pippa, who later scattered her dad’s ashes on his favourite beach on Mull, says there is a slim chance of her reprising her Bodyguard role in a second series after her corrupt police chief was exposed and arrested at the end of the first.
She said: “Only if I’m now a devious big mole in the jail. It’s highly unlikely they’ll be asking Craddock back, but who knows?”
Richard Madden is yet to decide whether to play James Bond, according to his Bodyguard co-star Pippa.
Pippa says the 007 role is the Paisley-born actor’s if he wants it. But she claims he won’t jump into the suave spy’s Aston Martin until he gets the go-ahead from his bank manager. “It’s his choice whether he plays Bond.”
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He was one of the nicest people I’ve worked with
“It might have been his dream as a young boy to play James Bond, but he may want to leave himself open to all manner of different sorts of characters and roles as he goes on through life,” she said.
“It will be interesting to see the choice Richard makes, but the rest of the country knows what a brilliant actor he is and that he could turn his hand to so many different things, including Bond.
“The whole country wants him to play Bond, but that might not be what he or his agent or his bank manager thinks he should to do. He is in the position to choose and is making his decision by taking the best advice he can from the people he trusts.”
Pippa will next star in the Channel 5’s Christmas drama Agatha & The Truth of