Jason Watkins jokes he once 'scarred' pensioners filming Being Human

Jason Watkins became a household name when he starred in BBC Three's Being Human, and while filming it was fun there was one embarrassing moment that sticks out in the actor's mind to this day.

Watkins played vampire leader William Herrick in the show, who turned Aidan Turner's John Mitchell and served as the main antagonist of the series until season 3. Reflecting on making the show with Yahoo UK for Role Recall, the actor jokingly reveals he once "scarred" a group of pensioners whilst filming in a park in Bristol — nude.

"I remember doing the launch scene in the third series, I emerge out of the ground naked — nobody wants to see that, I know, but I had what they call a dignity pouch," Watkins says.

"It's supposed to be in the countryside, in the middle of the snow-filled countryside and we shot it in the park in Bristol. So as I emerged from the ground a group from the local care home were walking across, with their aged care workers, in their wheelchairs, just watching me emerge out. It scarred them."

Being Human follows the lives of roommates John Mitchell, a vampire, George Sands, a werewolf, and Annie Sawyer, a ghost, who try to live amongst humans.

As such, the series starred relative newcomers at the time, like Russell Tovey and Turner who have both gone on to become huge stars in their own right after Being Human. Watkins enjoyed getting to work with all of the cast and could see back then that they were primed for success.

"They didn't need any advice from me, they were both exceptional and Lenora Crichlow. I mean that team, Sinead Keenan she came in as well and she was superb," he says of his co-stars.

"Russell and Aidan both had different qualities actually, Russell seemed to find it all really easy, just so natural. And Aidan did of course as well, but you could see he really worked hard at it, he worked really hard and was full-on commitment, I loved it."

Watkins took on the role of Herrick after the show's pilot episode, the role was originally played by Adrian Lester before being recast alongside a number of other parts. The actor took inspiration for the character from an unlikely place, he reveals.

"I remember I'd been working in the theatre, at the National Theatre, playing a villain, an SIS officer who went to interview and interrogate Tom Hollander and try and get this secret out of him," Watkins reminisces. "And that character's like the nicest guy you'd ever meet and it so happened that that production coincided with the audition for Being Human.

"I thought maybe I should try it this way, so actually I transplanted that character into Herrick and it sort of worked.

"I think that's the first time I'd really played a villain, and actually that was my, I suppose, break in television really. I had done a lot in the theatre, in the West End and at the National, and then this came along. I think I just knew how to play him."

Being Human is available to watch on ITVX, Yahoo's full Role Recall interview with Jason Watkins is out now.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/jason-watkins-being-human-scarred-pensioners-135921146.html