Chris Langham
Will Sharpe has defended his decision to cast Chris Langham in a comeback role, insisting the disgraced actor is "perfect" for the part.
Award-winning Langham was jailed for 10 months in 2007 after he was found guilty of 15 counts of possessing child porn, and he has not landed a single acting role since his conviction.
Now it has emerged he has been cast in low-budget movie Black Pond - and the film's directors Will Sharpe and Tom Kingsley are adamant it is the right decision.
Sharpe says, "We thought, 'Chris is perfect for the part, so why not?' Presumably he's not been inundated with offers and he'll do it for a modest fee."
However, Langham admits some viewers may be angered by his return to the big screen, telling British newspaper The Observer, "If people think I should do longer of not being allowed back in the room, as it were, then that's not my choice, it's their choice, and I have to respect it.
"Some people will think it's probably not an idea to be in my orbit until the dust settles and it's all right."
Langham won a BAFTA Award in 2006 for his performance as a hapless government minister in BBC political comedy The Thick of It.