Martin Freeman has revealed he actually texted the detective he’s playing in new drama A Confession while on set to find out how he felt at chilling moments.
The Sherlock actor is set to star as Steve Fulcher in the series, which will tell the true story of the detective who breached police protocol to catch a killer. However, the move ended up costing him his career and reputation.
Speaking about the series, the 47-year-old explained the role is a little different from what he’s used to.
‘I’m playing a real person I actually have access to – I was able to meet him,’ he said on This Morning.
‘From an actor’s point of view it was really useful,’ he added, explaining that he was able to ‘get inside’ the detective’s head.
With Davina McCall and Rochelle Humes asking if he ever messaged the real-life Steve, Martin affirmed: ‘I would do exactly that.’
‘Occasionally on the way to work or at work I would send him a quick text, just to get an idea of how he was feeling at this particular point in this meeting, with these people who were about to haul you over the coals, how were you feeling there, were you feeling scared or excited?’
The star explained that he sympathises with Steve, acknowledging: ‘The primary tragedy in this is the death of two young women.
‘But behind the tragedy, something pretty bad happened to this guy. I think he did something that most of us, most lay people would think “What a logical, common-sense approach to trying to get a killer.”
Speaking about acting alongside Harry Potter star Imelda Staunton and Happy Valley’s Siobhan Finneran, Martin admitted they made his job easier.
‘You are reacting to each other, I wasn’t having to go into scenes with them and rev myself up to feel emotion,’ he explained.
And he’s passionate about the series being as true to the real life events as it can be, reasoning: ‘The truth is horrific enough without us having to layer on loads of melodrama.’
The actor previously spoke out the new drama, and about how he sympathises with Steve.
‘My sympathy and my empathy is certainly with Steve Fulcher, let’s put it that way,’ Martin told Digital Spy, ‘and not just because I’ve played him. I don’t know how anyone could say he did the wrong thing, morally.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10.30 on ITV.
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