Richard Madden is sitting barefoot and cross-legged on an inviting velvet armchair. Outside, it’s the hottest day of the year but inside the air conditioning is so prevalent it’s positively chilly. As a proud Scot, Madden is no stranger to the cold and has neatly wrapped himself up in a rather comfy-looking athleisure-type ensemble, albeit sans shoes.

We are on the set of his Wonderland cover shoot and as everyone breaks for lunch, we find an opportune time to catch up and chat with the Bodyguard star and global ambassador of Calvin Klein’s latest fragrance, DEFY, about the year that’s been for arguably one of the entertainment industry’s most hard-working talents.

“If I’m not doing stuff, I always feel like I should be,” says Madden as he twiddles his thumbs, his eyes wide and alive. Like everyone, the 35-year-old was not accustomed to what the past 18 months would have in store. “I’d just finished shooting Eternals when lockdown happened so it was like, oh OK, I’m forced to not do anything,” recalls Madden. “I really needed that because I’m so used to surviving but here I didn’t feel guilty about not doing something because no one was doing anything.”

With a cast that comprises Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Gemma Chan, Salma Hayek and Kumail Nanjiani alongside Madden who plays Ikaris, it’s no surprise that Eternals is the most anticipated film of the year and as a big fan of comics himself, Madden too is beyond excited for it to be out.

“They’re all very complicated people in Eternals, but hopefully that can also help us bring a lightness to some heavy subject matter in terms of the story because I think when you live that long you’ve got to have a bit of a smile to yourself. You’ve got to laugh at life.”

Indeed, laughing is something Madden hopes to do more of in the future, both personally and professionally. Given the majority of Madden’s roles have been on the serious side, we talk to him about finding his happy place, about how he comes to terms with feeling self-conscious in front of the camera as well as what he has planned for Christmas this year.

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