Martin Freeman regrets some roles but he wasn't worried about taking the lead in 'A Confession'.

Martin Freeman

Martin Freeman

The 47-year-old wasn't nervous about the potential controversies in telling the story of Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher - who breached police protocol to catch killer Christopher Halliwell eight years ago - and he thinks Jeff Pope's six part ITV true crime drama has found "a very human way" of dealing with things.

He told Digital Spy: "I think sometimes I've been wrong not to feel that [wariness], in the past. I've taken decisions in my professional life where, in hindsight - not many, but occasionally in hindsight - where I probably should have thought of that.

"Someone will be offended by this. Some will think we've gone too far, or not far enough. But for me, it's a very human way of telling the story of... well, obviously the tragedy is young women being murdered. That's the real tragedy.

"But beyond that, secondary to that, is the tragedy that Steve Fulcher and his family went through. He was a man trying to do the right thing, and he paid a very, very high price for it."

DI Fulcher resigned after failing to caution Halliwell and interrogating him without legal representation present, and although these actions compromised the subsequent court case, the confession did mean the killer was jailed for the murders of Becky Godden and Sian O'Callaghan.

Martin added: "My sympathy and my empathy is certainly with Steve Fulcher, let's put it that way, and not just because I've played him. I don't know how anyone could say he did the wrong thing, morally.

"I'm also somebody who believes passionately that police have to be accountable. Of course they do. But still, morally, I'd much rather coppers like him were out there."

'A Confession'


Tagged in