James Nesbitt reveals that he uses his OBE to taunt Cold Feet co-stars – as series sets to return
The Irishman has revealed he's been using his Queen's honour to tease castmates as the ITV drama returns after 13 years
A LOT’S changed for JAMES NESBITT since his last appearance in Cold Feet 13 years ago.
Before his breakout part, the university dropout was a little-known stage actor building up his CV by taking on minor supporting roles, including a gravedigger in Hamlet during his twenties.
How things change.
The Irishman is now a Hollywood star after appearing in the Hobbit movies and has secured his position in the elite group of British TV actors thanks to roles in dramas Murphy’s Law and The Secret — plus he’s got far more hair.
But perhaps his most standout achievement was receiving an OBE in March. So I can’t really blame him for constantly reminding his castmates about his success.
James has revealed he’s been using his Queen’s honour to wind them up.
He said: “I didn’t take the medal back to the set. But in the make-up truck there’s photos pinned up of the cast.
Leapt off the page
“So beside my name I wrote ‘OBE’, which drove them mad, I think.”
No wonder he’s in a chirpy mood. James is delighted to be back with familiar company, including ROBERT BATHURST, HERMIONE NORRIS, FAY RIPLEY and JOHN THOMSON as drama Cold Feet returns to ITV on September 5.
The show won more than 20 awards during its five series spanning five years.
I revealed its comeback in April, music to the ears of its legions of fans.
And James is just as excited to reprise his role as Adam Williams — and is hoping another series will follow.
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He said: “I never thought we would do it again.
“Then I opened the script and thought, ‘Oh my God, there they are’. Enough time had gone by.
“Those familiar, yet distant characters leapt off the page and they still had something to say.
“It was fascinating to see them after that gap of time, where their lives were and where they were going to go. So I thought all the ingredients were there.”
When quizzed on filming a further series, he added: “In a heartbeat, I think there’s more to do.”
James also admitted he had to watch old episodes to jog his memory and conceded the person he saw on screen didn’t feel like him.
He said: “I literally couldn’t remember quite a lot of it. It was like watching someone I
used to know, in a way, in a familiar place.”
'Glad I wasn't Fay R.I.P-ley'
FAY RIPLEY begged Cold Feet producers to kill off her character Jenny Gifford.
But she’s thankful her request was ignored, otherwise she wouldn’t be part of the comeback.
Fay said: “I left Cold Feet in series four when Jenny moved to New York and returned in the final episode of series five, the last one we filmed.
“When I left I had asked creator Mike Bullen to kill me off because I wanted a big, dramatic dying scene. And then I came back, I was nostalgic for the show and I was delighted to do so.
“But what I hadn’t thought about was that later it was going to be really handy that I did come back.
“Because now I can be in Cold Feet in 2016.”
If she’d got her wish in 2001, she would have beat HELEN BAXENDALE’s character Rachel Bradley to the grave.
She turned down Mike’s offer to return in a scene in Adam’s mind.
He said: “I was quite sentimental. I wanted to find a way of doing Cold Feet with the original six. I sent that script to Helen to say ‘Do you want to do it?’ She was very sweet but she said it wasn’t for her.”
Pity.
ROBERT BATHURST had his bum pinched in a case of mistaken identity. The star, who plays David Marsden, said: “I had my bottom grabbed at a service station. She said, ‘You’re my boss’. I replied, ‘I’m afraid I’m not’. She ran off.”
COLD BIT
RADIO 1 DJ CEL SPELLMAN, who plays Adam’s son, somehow found the time to film Cold Feet.
He said: “My passion is 100 per cent acting. But it’s been nice to prove that I don’t need to choose one or the other.”