Richard Madden considered quitting acting when he finished filming ‘Bodyguard’ because he felt "broken".
The 32-year-old actor – who became a household name after starring as personal protection officer PC David Budd in the hit BBC drama – thought about calling time on his acting career after he was left feeling "physically and mentally exhausted".
Richard told the Hollywood Reporter: "At the end, I was like, ‘I need to stop doing this for a while.’ Because it weighed very heavily on me.
"I was very isolated during it. You spend so much time in someone else’s clothes, saying someone else’s words, thinking someone else’s thoughts, that you lose a bit of yourself.
"And I’m not a method actor in any way, but you get a huge hangover. And at the end of that, I felt broken, much like the character was. Physically and mentally exhausted.
"I know we’re not curing cancer, but you’re giving everything you’ve got."
Before ‘Bodyguard’, Richard starred as Robb Stark on ‘Game Of Thrones’ in 2011, but he was out of work for 11 months because he was holding out for a good role on camera.
He added: "I did 11 months where I was broke and had nothing. I was turning down theatre gigs – small theatre gigs – because I wanted to try and do some camera acting.
"And the offers stop coming after you turn them down for a while and you go, ‘Right, I’ve now ruined that bit of my career.’
"And I’m not getting the camera stuff. I’d shot myself in the foot.
"Then I got ‘Game Of Thrones’, and that helped change things a bit."
Richard previously admitted he couldn’t afford food before joining the hit HBO show, and had to choose between grub or a newspaper and a pint before he got the life-changing call.
He previously said: "I had like two options, I could buy one meal, or a newspaper and a pint.
"I got that phone call and I was on my last month’s rent and I asked my agent for an advance."
Richard Madden considered quitting acting after Bodyguard
