The BBC docudrama series depicted the career and crimes of Savile from the early 1960s up until his death in 2011.
Coogan shared he “dove into” the role entirely and took extra steps to get immersed, such as wearing Savile’s real shoes.
Speaking on the Louis Theroux Podcast, the actor, 59, said: “This is something I’ve not said before. I wore his shoes, his actual shoes. So I was walking, literally, in his actual shoes.”
He explained that the wardrobe team offered him the pair while filming, asking if he wanted to wear them.
At first, he hesitated, saying: “They asked how I felt about it, and I paused for a long time.
“Then I thought, well, if I’m going to go there, I’m going to go there. I dived into it without thinking too much.”
Coogan explained that the decision wasn’t about shock value, but about authenticity, and a desire to portray Savile as truthfully as possible, without turning him into a caricature.
“My job is to execute this character in the most accurate way possible,” he said.
‘I’ve had letters from victims about how important it was’
Actor Steve Coogan spoke to #BBCBreakfast about the reaction to playing paedophile and sex offender Jimmy Savile in the BBC drama ‘The Reckoning’https://t.co/x2xGNDluhr pic.twitter.com/5esswJMgNi
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 28, 2023
“To help tell a drama that is truthful and not do a pantomime villain, because that would be a disservice to the survivors.”
Steve Coogan says Jimmy Savile role was most “intense” of his career
Coogan described playing Savile as “intense” with it being a “very strange” process.
He said: “We were doing it for months. I shaved my head twice a week before they put all these wigs on.
“There was humour on set, but it was gallows humour – never about what Savile did, of course. You needed it because it was so heavy.”
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The psychological weight of the role was too much on some occasions, though.
Coogan shared: “I remember one morning going to my trailer and feeling like I wanted to burst into tears.
“It was like I had this huge cloak on me. Very sad. Towards the end, I just wanted it to finish.”
