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Matthew Macfadyen admits it was 'weird' to watch wife Keeley Hawes' sex scenes in 'Bodyguard'

Matthew Macfadyen says it was strange to watch Keeley Hawes being intimate with Richard Madden in 'Bodyguard'. (Karwai Tang/WireImage/BBC)
Matthew Macfadyen says it was strange to watch Keeley Hawes being intimate with Richard Madden in 'Bodyguard'. (Karwai Tang/WireImage/BBC)

Matthew Macfadyen has confessed it was "just weird" to watch his wife Keeley Hawes performing intimate scenes with Richard Madden in hit drama Bodyguard.

The series from Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio followed Hawes' Home Secretary and her interactions with the PTSD-suffering veteran assigned to protect her, played by Madden.

Read more: Keeley Hawes weighs in on Bodyguard fan theory

For Macfadyen, who met Hawes on the set of spy series Spooks in 2002 and married her two years later, some of the more explicit scenes between the couple made for an awkward watch.

The Succession star was asked by The Times whether scenes like this "touch a nerve", to which he replied that "it does, a little bit" and is "just weird".

Watch: Matthew Macfadyen and Nicholas Braun discuss Succession insults

He added that, however they appear on screen, the process of filming a sex scene is "the least sexy thing you can possibly imagine" when it comes to the day on set.

The 47-year-old actor said he approves of the recent rise in the popularity of intimacy coordinators, whose job is to ensure that scenes like these are performed in a way that makes everyone comfortable.

Read more: UK film organisation reveals guidelines for sex scenes

"I wish we’d had them. Because then you’re not afraid to go: ‘I don’t want to do that'," he said.

Macfadyen added: "It sounds OTT, but it’s a healthy over-correction, because it takes away the pressure to take off all your clothes, or do stuff you didn’t want to do."

Keeley Hawes and Matthew Macfadyen have been married since 2004, after meeting on the set of 'Spooks'. (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI)
Keeley Hawes and Matthew Macfadyen have been married since 2004, after meeting on the set of 'Spooks'. (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI)

Macfadyen and Hawes have worked together numerous times since Spooks, including on the film Death at a Funeral and in an episode of Ashes to Ashes, with a new, secret project in the pipeline.

"We met on set. Everyone will know when we’re having a row. That’s always the way," said Macfadyen.

Read more: Kieran Culkin originally auditioned for different Succession role

Macfadyen is currently on TV screens in the third season of Succession, in which he portrays Tom Wambsgans — husband of protagonist Logan Roy's daughter Shiv.

The show, which depicts the power struggles of the Roy family amid media executive Logan's waning health, has already been renewed for a fourth season.

Watch: Trailer for season three of Succession