Actor Steve Coogan has strongly defended the BBC’s controversial new TV drama, “The Reckoning”. In this drama, he is playing the role of the shamed sexual predator, Jimmy Savile.
On Sunday Brunch earlier this month, the actor, 56, said we must examine people such as Savile “to prevent it from happening again.”
“I spoke to actors playing the protagonists to put them at ease,” Coogan, who infamously portrays the comedic persona of Alan Partridge, remarked.
‘I think that’s because Jimmy Savile fooled the entire country, so there is a real sense of animosity,’ the tv actor added.
‘But you need to learn about someone like that in order to understand how they’re able to function, and what you can do about it going forward.
‘If you sweep it under the carpet and never talk about it again, those people will always return.’
“It’s horrible,” agreed Steve. “I’d go up to them and say I was Steve, not Jimmy Savile, and explain who I was going to play today.
“And we’re going to do it professionally, and it was so that they knew I was someone else. So it was a tightrope, but I believe we pulled it off correctly.’
The controversial BBC drama will throw light on the upbringing of the disgraced former star. Also, it will highlight his early career and prolific child sex offenses.
Many people have criticized the decision to document Savile’s life, but BBC has declared that they collaborated with his victims and will tell a narrative “with sensitivity and care.”
In a previous statement, he said that playing Savile was not one he took lightly. ‘The plot, written by Neil McKay, is intelligent and sensitively handles a terrible tale that, while awful, must be told,’ he continued.
‘The tale of Jimmy Savile is one of the most emotive and challenging in our time,’ said Controller Piers Wenger, of BBC Drama.