Steve Coogan wore a pair of Jimmy Savile's shoes on The Reckoning
Steve Coogan played Jimmy Savile in BBC's The Reckoning, and Steve wore a pair of the late TV presenter-and-DJ's shoes on the set of the docudrama TV miniseries.
Steve Coogan wore a pair of Jimmy Savile’s shoes on the set of The Reckoning.
The 59-year-old actor played Savile in the 2023 BBC docudrama TV miniseries, which tells the career and horrific sexual crimes by the TV presenter-and-DJ, who died in 2011 aged 84.
And Steve said he "dived into" the role - even wearing a pair of disgraced Savile's real shoes.
Appearing on the latest episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast, Steve revealed: "This is something I’ve not said before, I wore his shoes, his actual shoes.
"So I was walking, literally, in his actual shoes."
Louis - who interviewed and spent two weeks with Savile for the notorious 2000 BBC documentary When Louis Met...Jimmy - then asked Steve: "And why would you do that?"
The actor explained: "It was there and [the wardrobe team] said, 'How'd you feel about this?'
"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 about it too much. People see it as very brave. I think it's just a job. My job is to execute this character in the most accurate way possible to help tell a drama that is truthful and not do a caricature, because that ultimately is a disservice to those who survived his abuse.
"And if you do some sort of pantomime villain or something, that's also not very responsible."
Steve admitted the filming process for The Reckoning was "very strange" and "intense".
He recalled: "We were doing it for months, and I shaved my head twice a week, I had a bald head before they put all these wigs on.
"So it was a very strange, intense period."
The actor ensured there was sensitivity on set - especially when filming scenes with survivors or actors playing Savile's victims.
Steve explained: "I'd meet the actresses before shooting.
"I'd say, 'Look, I'm Steve, I'm here. We're going to work together today, and in two hours, you're going to see me, and I'm going to look very different.'
"But we know what we're doing. It's a job."
Despite trying hard to maintain professionalism, the weight of playing Savile caused Steve to cry.
Steve remembered: "I think towards the end, I remember I went to the trailer one morning, and I was shocked because I felt like I wanted to burst into tears. I felt really sad.
"It was like I had this huge sort of blanket on me, this cloak on me."
The Louis Theroux Podcast is available on Spotify now.
