Bodyguard's Richard Madden: being known as a 'hunky thing' undermines my acting
The sight of Richard Madden’s naked form in Bodyguard, the BBC’s hit political thriller, became a national talking point.
But the actor has admitted to concerns about being objectified on screen, saying it detracts from his performance.
Madden plays DC David Budd, a personal protection officer in the throes of an affair with the Home Secretary (Keeley Hawes) he is guarding.
As with Aidan Turner’s topless scything in Poldark and Tom Hiddleston’s bare bottom in The Night Manager, the scene of Madden without his clothes soon went viral.
Asked about the focus on his looks, Madden said: “I worry sometimes about it affecting my job. If people go, ‘Oh, you know, he’s that hunky thing’, then it undermines that actually I’m an actor, and I’m trying really hard to be good at it.”
The actor, who previously starred in Game of Thrones and played the prince in a film adaptation of Cinderella, said he did not want to complain because women have been similarly objectified for decades “so I don’t really have a right to be p----- off”.
In an interview with Mr Porter magazine he said the pressure to slim down and look good for a role is not confined to actresses.
“I’ve done loads of jobs where I’ve been asked, or told, I need to lose weight - or I need to be in the gym every day. And that sucks, because it actually gets in the way of the job, a bit. And also because it’s just unrealistic. Not everyone walks around with six-packs - unless you’re on Love Island,” Madden said.
“I was out in Ibiza earlier this year, and it was so funny - every guy had a six-pack. It was like, have you all just worked out all year for that one week in Ibiza where you can drink and party? Or is everybody just really genetically gifted? Because I know I only get a six-pack if I don’t eat and work out for months.”
Bodyguard, currently mid-way through its run on BBC One, was the corporation’s most-watched drama debut since records began.
It has been criticised for featuring too many women in positions of power - something Madden dismissed as “f---ing bananas. It’s not unrealistic at all to have these women in there - it’s completely normal. Especially when the show focuses on a young white male. Let’s not forget that the camera is on a young white male the whole time.”
His comments on women have been backed up by the show’s police adviser, David Zinzan, a former commander with the Metropolitan Police, who said: “Let’s just look at the current world we live in. The top three jobs in policing are run by women.
“The National Crime Agency has Lynne Owens. The National Police Chiefs Council has Sara Thornton. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick. The three top jobs in policing are run by women.
“We have a second woman Prime Minister. We’ve had a number of women Home Secretaries. A lot of traditional barriers are breaking down. So I think the younger generation will accept that as the norm. It’s only probably older people who say, ‘This never happens.’”
The drama has proved popular with Amber Rudd, the former Home Secretary, who said the relationship between the protection officer and his charge was quite true to life - apart from the sex.
“Like everyone, I have been absolutely gripped by Bodyguard. I love it. And it is a pretty accurate depiction of what the relationship is like between a Home Secretary and their bodyguard in the sense that they are incredibly close to you a lot of the time - although obviously not that close.”
