Entertainment
Steve Coogan believes ‘gamble’ of playing Jimmy Savile has ‘paid off’ after backlash-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro
‘It could’ve been a terrible decision.’
![Steve Coogan believes ‘gamble’ of playing Jimmy Savile has ‘paid off’ after backlash-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/SEI_174912917-6eff.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024)
Steve Coogan’s portrayal of Jimmy Saville received a mixed reaction (Picture: BBC/ITV Studios/Matt Squire)
Steve Coogan has said his Bafta nomination for his portrayal of Jimmy Savile feels like a ‘vindication’ of his decision to take on the risky role.
The TV star earned himself a leading actor prize nomination at the TV awards for his star turn in BBC drama The Reckoning.
Released in 2023, the programme told the story of Savile’s life from his working-class roots to his rise to TV stardom as a presenter, plus his later years when he managed to conceal his sexual abuse crimes until he died in 2011.
Understandably, the project was met with huge backlash, given Savile’s legacy as one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders.
Arriving on the red carpet, Coogan told the PA news agency of his gratitude for the recognition.
‘I’m very grateful to be acknowledged by the academy because the role I played was quite a difficult one, it was quite controversial and there was a lot of opposition to it when it was announced.
He starred as the prolific sex offender in BBC’s The Reckoning (Picture: BBC/ITV Studios/Matt Squire)
Savile felt ‘vindicated’ after being nominated for awards for the role (Picture: BBC/ITV Studios/Matt Squire)
‘So it was fraught with pitfalls, if it was handled badly it could have been a terrible decision.
‘But I think the BBC were vindicated by it.’
He added that ‘everyone had to perform their role very carefully to make sure the result was something that was legitimate, and a worthwhile endeavour. And not least me, playing the main role.’
‘So being acknowledged by the academy feels like a sort of vindication.’
Asked if he anticipated controversy over his casting, Coogan replied: ‘I understood some of the consternation about me playing the role of Jimmy Savile, some people have seen me as just a comic actor but I have got provenance as a dramatic actor and I thought I knew how to do it.
‘All the people involved were very professional so I knew that the decisions made would be a bit careful and considered, but I didn’t jump in with both feet before carefully looking at the scripts and raising concerns and making sure that it was done the right way.
‘I knew it was a gamble but I thought it was a gamble that would pay off and I think it has.’
The actor looked smart as he walked the TV Bafta red carpet (Picture: Kate Green/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)
Coogan said the participation of some of the survivors of Savile’s crimes ‘legitimises it and neutralises a lot of the negativity that was directed at the whole venture’.
He added: ‘Because their presence was an endorsement of that process, and gave voice to it and legitimised and made people realise why the programme was being made.
‘It wasn’t just a piece of entertainment, it was about looking deeply at how something like this occurs.’
Coogan admitted previously that filming for four-parter became ‘difficult at times’.
The Alan Partridge star told BBC Breakfast hosts Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt that it was a ‘gamble’ of a role, given how the series touches on those who ‘failed to bring [Savile] to account.
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Coogan was glad when he no longer had to dress up as Savile again (Picture: Alamy Live News)
However, he assured viewers that working alongside survivors aided the research and ensured the process was ‘very, very careful’.
When asked how playing a ‘sinister’ character like Savile affected him, Coogan stated: ‘I was very pleased the last day of filming, because I thought, I’ll never have to dress as him again.’
Full list of Bafta TV nominations 2024
Leading actress
Anjana Vasan, Demon 79 (Black Mirror) – Netflix
Anne Reid, The Sixth Commandment – BBC One
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us – Sky Atlantic
Helena Bonham Carter, Nolly – ITVX
Sarah Lancashire, Happy Valley – BBC One
Sharon Horgan, Best Interests – BBC One
Leading actor
Brian Cox, Succession – Sky Atlantic
Dominic West, The Crown – Netflix
Kane Robinson, Top Boy – Netflix
Paapa Essiedu, The Lazarus Project – Sky Max
Steve Coogan, The Reckoning – BBC One
Timothy Spall, The Sixth Commandment – BBC One
Supporting actress
Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown – Netflix
Harriet Walter, Succession – Sky Atlantic
Jasmine Jobson, Top Boy – Netflix
Lesley Manville, The Crown – Netflix
Nico Parker, The Last of Us – Sky Atlantic
Siobhan Finneran, Happy Valley – BBC One
Supporting actor
Amit Shah, Happy Valley – BBC One
Éanna Hardwicke, The Sixth Commandment – BBC One
Harris Dickinson, A Murder at the End of the World – Disney+
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses – Apple TV+
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession – Sky Atlantic
Salim Daw, The Crown – Netflix
Female performance in a comedy
Bridget Christie, The Change – Channel 4
Gbemisola Ikumelo, Black Ops – BBC One
Máiréad Tyers, Extraordinary – Disney+
Roisin Gallagher, The Lovers – Sky Atlantic
Sofia Oxenham, Extraordinary – Disney+
Taj Atwal, Hullraisers – Channel 4
Male performance in a comedy
Adjani Salmon, Dreaming Whilst Black – BBC Three
David Tennant, Good Omens – Prime Video
Hammed Animashaun, Black Ops – BBC One
Jamie Demetriou, A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou – Netflix
Joseph Gilgun, Brassic – Sky Max
Mawaan Rizwan, Juice – BBC Three
Drama series
The Gold – BBC One
Happy Valley – BBC One
Slow Horses – Apple TV+
Top Boy – Netflix
Limited drama
Best Interests – BBC One
Demon 79 (Black Mirror) – Netflix
The Long Shadow – ITV1
The Sixth Commandment – BBC One
Scripted comedy
Big Boys – Channel 4
Dreaming Whilst Black – BBC Three
Extraordinary – Disney+
Such Brave Girls – BBC Three
Soap
Casualty – BBC One
EastEnders – BBC One
Emmerdale – ITV1
Entertainment programme
Hannah Waddingham: Home For Christmas – Apple TV+
Later… With Jools Holland – BBC Two
Michael McIntyre’s Big Show – BBC One
Strictly Come Dancing – BBC One
Entertainment performance
Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly, I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! – ITV1
Big Zuu, Big Zuu’s Big Eats – Dave
Graham Norton, The Graham Norton Show – BBC One
Hannah Waddingham, Eurovision Song Contest 2023 – BBC One
Joe Lycett, Late Night Lycett – Channel 4
Rob Beckett & Romesh Ranganathan, Rob & Romesh Vs – Sky Max
Comedy entertainment programme
The Graham Norton Show – BBC One
Late Night Lycett – Channel 4
Rob & Romesh Vs – Sky Max
Would I Lie To You? – BBC One
Factual entertainment
Celebrity Race Across The World – BBC One
The Dog House – Channel 4
Endurance: Race To The Pole – Channel 5
Portrait Artist of the Year – Sky Arts
Reality
Banged Up – Channel 4
Married At First Sight UK – E4
My Mum, Your Dad – ITV1
Squid Game: The Challenge – Netflix
Daytime
Loose Women and Men – ITV1
Lorraine – ITV1
Make It At Market – BBC One
Scam Interceptors – BBC One
International
The Bear – Disney+
Beef – Netflix
Class Act – Netflix
The Last of Us – Sky Atlantic
Love & Death – ITVX
Succession – Sky Atlantic
Live event coverage
The Coronation Concert – BBC One
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 – BBC One
Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance – BBC One
Current affairs
Inside Russia: Traitors And Heroes (Storyville) – BBC Four
Putin Vs The West – BBC Two
Russell Brand: In Plain Sight (Dispatches) – Channel 4
The Shamima Begum Story (This World) – BBC Two
Single documentary
David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived – Sky Documentaries
Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family – ITV1
Hatton – Sky Crime
Vjeran Tomic: The Spider-Man of Paris – Netflix
Factual series
Dublin Narcos – Sky Documentaries
Evacuation – Channel 4
Lockerbie – Sky Documentaries
Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland – BBC Two
Specialist factual
Chimp Empire – Netflix
The Enfield Poltergeist – Apple TV+
Forced Out – Sky Documentaries
White Nanny, Black Child – Channel 5
News coverage
Inside Gaza: Israel And Hamas At War – Channel 4 News
Inside Myanmar – The Hidden War – Sky News
Israel-Hamas War – Sky News
Sports coverage
Cheltenham Festival Day One – ITV1
MOTD Live: Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023 – BBC One
Wimbledon 2023 Men’s Final – BBC One
Memorable moment
Beckham, David teases Victoria about her ‘working class’ upbringing – Netflix
Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa revealed as the 15th Doctor – BBC One
Happy Valley, Catherine Cawood and Tommy Lee Royce’s final kitchen showdown – BBC One
The Last of Us, Bill and Frank’s Story – Sky Atlantic
The Piano, 13-year-old Lucy stuns commuters with jaw dropping piano performance – Channel 4
Succession, Logan Roy’s death – Sky Atlantic
Short form
Mobility – BBC Three
The Skewer: Three Twisted Years – BBC iPlayer
Stealing Ukraine’s Children: Inside Russia’s Camps – Vice News
Where It Ends – BBC Three
Writer: Comedy
Jack Rooke, Big Boys – Channel 4
Jamie Demetriou, A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou – Netflix
Kat Sadler, Such Brave Girls – BBC Three
Mawaan Rizwan, Juice – BBC Three
Writer: Drama
Charlie Brooker & Bisha K Ali, Demon 79 (Black Mirror) – Netflix
Jesse Armstrong, Succession – Sky Atlantic
Sally Wainwright, Happy Valley – BBC One
Sarah Phelps, The Sixth Commandment – BBC One
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