Keeley Hawes has said the secret to her steamy sex scenes with Richard Madden in Bodyguard was that they “didn’t stop laughing”.
The actress played stern home secretary Julia Montague in the hit BBC One drama opposite Madden as her troubled bodyguard, David Budd.
Hawes, 43, said she grew to trust her co-star for the number of “very odd” scenes they had to film together in the Jed Mercurio-penned series, and that they bonded over their lack of confidence.
Of her chemistry-filled intimate scenes with Madden, Hawes told You magazine: “The secret is we didn’t stop laughing.
“You know when someone just tickles you … and also, I think I can say this on his part, too, we’re not the most confident people you could meet and that’s nice to recognise in someone. I felt safe with him.
“We had some very odd things to do together – from being covered in blood while being shot at by a sniper to secretive sexual trysts – which means you have to trust each other, and I really did trust him.”
Hawes said she would love to star opposite Madden if he were to take on the role of James Bond.
She said she would love to be “creeping around after him” as a Russian agent.
The Durrells star also said that receiving praise for her work in Bodyguard by Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins was “like a mini-Bafta”.
Earlier this year, the Moonlight director tweeted that Hawes was “riveting” in the role, adding that “she’s a buzzsaw just chewing through everything and everyone here, a wonderful counterbalance to Madden’s torque-filled edge”.
Hawes said: “I sent him a direct message because I was so over-excited, and he got straight back to me.”
The actress is currently starring in BBC Two’s Cold War drama Summer Of Rockets.