Les Dennis has spoken about the public’s reaction to the first glimpse at his Death in Paradise character Danny Sheridan, revealing that he was “pleased” with the shocking look.
The actor and comedian is set to guest-star in the BBC comedy-drama’s Christmas special as a medium who gets caught up in the Saint Marie police department’s latest case.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Dennis said that he was “really surprised” by the public’s reaction.
“At the moment, I’ve got a full ‘tache for granddad in Only Fools and Horses [the musical] and whenever I play a different character I will sometimes change the way I look but I suppose it was the black hair of Danny Sheridan, somebody said I looked like a kind of deranged Jack Nicholson.”
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He continued: “I was pleased with that because it means I’m inhabiting a role and they’re interested to see who that character is.”
The former Family Fortunes host said that he would need to apply his character’s black hair dye every morning, spending an hour and a half in makeup before filming.
“And literally, when I finished at the end of the day, I would have to go home and shower that out because it was very dark. I don’t know what they were using. It was kind of oil-based I think. It was tricky to get out every night.
“At first I didn’t realise they were going to make my character look so different. On the first day I was thinking, ‘Is this right?’ And then when I saw what they did, the make-up department were just brilliant, I thought, ‘Yeah, this is him. This is definitely him. This is Danny Sheridan.’”
The Death in Paradise guest star previously admitted that he was “nervous” about joining the show and acting alongside “all these people who were already regulars”.
The upcoming special will see DI Neville Parker (Ralf Little) look into the murder of a podcaster, who was investigating a child’s disappearance.
“It’s a case that’s haunted Selwyn for many years, and now Neville and the team must lay its ghost to rest,” the BBC has teased.
Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.
The Death in Paradise 2022 Christmas special will air on Monday 26th December, with season 11 available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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