Steve Coogan feared his performance as Jimmy Savile for a new drama would traumatise his co-stars.
The actor, 57, went all out to transform himself into the sex offender for The Reckoning and was nervous filming dark scenes. He said: “On a number of occasions I was working with younger cast members, often women in their late teens or early 20s playing the role of people even younger… the people Savile preyed on.
"It was really important everyone felt at ease and comfortable.” Bosses hired intimacy coordinator Jenefer Odell to help the cast cope with sensitive scenes. Steve wanted to make sure his performance was never funny as a mark of respect for Savile’s victims.
READ MORE: Want more showbiz? Daily Star has just the thing for you!
READ MORE: Want more TV? Daily Star has just the thing for you!
Coogan said: “An inherent problem of impersonating someone accurately is it can strangely make people laugh and of course you don’t want to do that here, because it would trivialise this.”
Coogan admitted taking the role of the paedo was a "risk" but one that was worth taking. He believes the doc is "worthwhile" and insists it's important to discuss dark things that happened in the past.
"To do things that are worthwhile, or have value, you have to take a risk, to make stuff that is interesting and worthwhile and has substance. That carries with it a responsibility. And so, The Reckoning is one of those that fits into that category.
He continued: "Lots of people are anxious about it, but I think it will vindicate itself when it comes around. As a rule, when you're talking about dark periods, when we're talking about our cultural past, it is best to talk about things than to not talk about them.
"If you sweep things under the carpet, then you are liable to have those things happen again because you haven't learned from them." Jimmy Savile molested at least 72 children, some as young as eight, over four decades of abuse.
The series has received criticism even before it's aired, but Coogan believes it will "vindicate" itself once people see it. Savile's first known victim was in 1959 and his final in 2006.
The Reckoning starts on Monday (October 8) at 9pm on BBC One.
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