‘It keeps me awake at night!’ Keeley Hawes admits she thrives on feeling ‘scared’ by her job and ‘struggles to switch off’ when she’s not working
She had starring roles in recent TV hits the Bodyguard and the Durrells.
Yet Keeley Hawes’ latest projects have seen her make a move behind the camera, as she produced ITV dramas Honour and Finding Alice.
During an interview with Red magazine, Keeley, 44, admitted that her new role ‘keeps her up at night’, however she revealed she feels it’s a ‘healthy’ habit.
Truthful: Keeley Hawes’ latest projects have seen her make a move behind the camera and she admitted that her new role ‘keeps her up at night’
The actress revealed that she thinks she ‘needs to be scared’ and over time that feeling wears off, hence why she has branched out into another field of the industry.
Referencing a time when she felt ‘scared’, Keeley admitted she didn’t sleep for two weeks before working on The Hollow Crown with Judi Dench.
Discussing her need to ‘constantly evolve’, she told the publication: ‘I don’t like being scared, but I do like being scared – I sort of need it. I love my job and I feel like the luckiest person in the world – but you get less and less scared by things.
‘I feel less and less scared. [Producing] keeps me awake at night, and I think that’s healthy’.
Keeley also discussed how she felt after producing her first show and confessed she tries not to be overly self-critical because everyone is bound to ‘make mistakes’.
Being brave: The actress revealed that she thinks she ‘needs to be scared’ and over time that feeling wears off, hence why she has branched out into another field of the industry
She spoke about Honour, which is currently airing on ITV, and said: ‘With Honour, the reception will be what it will be. We all worked really hard on it, and that’s all you can do.
‘Then, you have to relax. I’m not very good at that, but what can you do? You can beat yourself up about it, but I want to make shows and I will make mistakes – everybody does.
‘Not everything is a Bodyguard. Not everything is a Killing Eve. It just isn’t. I have to be gentle on myself.’
Co-stars: Referencing a time when she felt ‘scared’, Keeley admitted she didn’t sleep for two weeks before working on The Hollow Crown with Judi Dench
Discussing her need to ‘constantly evolve’, she told the publication: ‘I don’t like being scared, but I do like being scared – I sort of need it’
Keeley said she now tries hard to force herself to relax during her downtime, which she revealed her husband of sixteen years Matthew Macfadyen is ‘really good’ at.
She said: ‘Before, if I had a spare day or a spare evening, I would write a to-do list. Just leave it alone! It is okay to do nothing. Matthew is somebody who has always been much better at that; just sort of being and not having to fill the time.’
One of Keeley’s previous projects was Shakespeare adaptation, The Hollow Crown.
Realistic: Keeley also discussed how she felt after producing her first show and confessed she tries not to be overly self-critical because everyone is bound to ‘make mistakes’
The star worked with a host of A-list actors including Dame Judi and she admitted she was unable to sleep for two weeks in the lead up.
She revealed: I was so worried because I hadn’t done Shakespeare [before], and my first scenes were with the greatest living Shakespearean actor.
[But] I don’t think there is anybody on the planet who is as capable of putting people at ease as Judi.’
The full interview appears in the November issue of Red, on sale 8th October 2020
Married: Keeley said she now tries hard to force herself to relax during her downtime, which she revealed her husband of sixteen years Matthew Macfadyen (pictured) is ‘really good’ at