Actor Matthew Stokoe has told how he struggled playing killer Raoul Moat in a new drama, saying the role left him with a sense of “really heavy, sad grief or loss”.
In 2010, Moat went on the run after shooting his ex-girlfriend, her partner and a traffic officer, then killed himself after a stand-off with police.
Matthew, 34, has admitted he was glad when filming finished and he could get rid of his Moat look.
He said: “I think it was quite cleansing that at the end of the job I got to shave the mohawk off... get rid of the infamous mohawk and orange T-shirt. It felt quite oppressive by the end.”
To get into character for his role in three-part drama The Hunt For Raoul Moat, Matthew had isolated himself from other members of the cast, including Lee Ingleby, who plays the detective who led the manhunt.
Matthew said: “Lee and I have worked together before but I think the only time we saw each other on this was in the lift of the hotel. I felt very much like I was making a completely different show to all the other cast.
“You know, there was this kind of camaraderie among the police officers and a lot of people were travelling to work together and doing scenes and seeing the same faces every day .
“I was either kind of by myself in a tent in the woods or I was in the gym or my hotel room.
“It was just that on a loop for a few weeks. Over time, there’s an accumulative pressure that forms.”
He said he ended up feeling like he did not know the difference between acting and reality. He said: “Like I’d been through some really heavy, sad grief or loss or some experience.”
When filming finished, he struggled to get back to normal. Matthew said: “Most of the time when you finish a job, you’re on cloud nine. I had to spend time almost in like a decompression chamber, taking myself out of that mindset.”
The Sunday Mirror told at the weekend how the family of Moat’s ex Samantha Stobbart, whose partner Chris Brown was killed by Moat, were unhappy with ITV for making the drama, to be shown later this month.
Samantha’s sister Kelly, 40, said: “ITV don’t realise the impact this will have on the people involved.”
Executive producer Jake Lushington said: “I think we have a responsibility to inform and use drama to inform in a way the documentaries can’t. And, you know, that’s what we’ve tried to do.”
