Bodyguard star Richard Madden ‘didn’t want to act again’ after filming hit BBC drama

'It took more out of me than any­thing else I’ve done,' the former Game of Thrones star said

Richard Madden has confessed his enthusiasm for acting lessened after starring in hit BBC series Bodyguard.

The Scottish actor led the drama from Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio as David Budd, a PTSD-suffering war veteran who's hired as a specialist protection officer for Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes).

“It had taken so much out of me physically, mentally and personally,“ Madden said in a new interview with GQ. ”I didn’t see any of my friends for months, unless they came to set. It was just relentless."

He continued: “You didn’t get a day off. My character doesn’t get a second off. It took more out of me than any­thing else I’ve done.”

Upon its debut in December, Bodyguard swiftly became one of the most watched shows in the history of the channel.

The actor also recalled sobbing so much on the flight after home after filming his Game of Thrones death scene that other passengers were forced to move seats.

“I looked like I’d murdered someone and got on that flight which, in fact, I hadn’t – I’d been murdered,” he said.

Madden starred in the series from 2011 up until his exit which occurred in the infamous Red Wedding sequence as part of the fantasy epic’s third season.

The interview will be available to read in the next issue of GQ which will be released on 6 December.