Finding Alice's Keeley Hawes reveals bizarre filming hack during covid-19 pandemic

Interesting!

Keeley Hawes on the red carpet
Keeley Hawes reveals how they managed to film intimate scenes during the pandemic
(Image credit: Getty)

Keeley Hawes has revealed the Finding Alice team had to get creative when it came to filming during the covid-19 pandemic.

Keeley, 44, appeared on The Graham Norton Show on Saturday night to promote her new show, Finding Alice - here's everything you need to know about the ITV show - and revealed that the cast and crew were just five weeks away from wrapping when the country when into lockdown last March.

The team dispersed from location and picked up filming again towards the end of last year. But they still had to use clever hacks to get around social distancing guidelines. 

As well as getting regularly tested for covid-19, Keeley took part in some intimate scenes and confessed that the actor's real-life wife was drafted in to body double for her - an experience she described as "awkward".

She admitted, "A lot of the soaps have used perspex screens, which must be very odd, we didn't do that. 

"One thing we did do, I had one scene, we were outside, happily, and I had a scene where - it's a bit spoilery - but I had to get a little bit intimate with another character, closer than you're really able to. 

"And someone had the brilliant idea of bringing in this actor's poor wife and putting a wig on her and doubling her for me."

Finding Alice

Finding Alice starts tonight on ITV

(Image credit: ITV)

Giving an insight into how the magic happened behind-the-scenes, Keeley explained, "So I go up to this point in the scene where I have to get closer, then I step to the side and his wife steps in and I just stand there at the side like this, just looking, you know... awkward. 

"So they have this moment and then I step back and carry on shooting the scene."

Keeley reunited with Simon Nye - the writer of The Durrells - for Finding Alice, which she both stars in and is an executive producer on.

Finding Alice starts tonight, Sunday January 17 at 9pm on ITV.

Georgia Farquharson

Georgia writes across Woman & Home and Good to Know and specialises in all things royal. Previously labelled the "Queen of the royals," Georgia knows the whose who and what's what when it comes to the monarchy. When she's not eagerly following the royal family, Georgia enjoys shopping and self-care. She lives with this motto in mind; "if your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough."