actors who appear on crimewatch

[tali122]

often wondered about the actors who appear on crimewatch playing criminals- surely when in public they must get hassled and reported to the police - and what about those who play the part of a paedophile or the recent elderly con artist- they must be getting attacked?

[Narolines]

Why?  As far as I know it's not illegal to be an actor.......

[Andy008]

No. Actors are paid to pretend to be people they are not. Anyone with a shred of common sense will realise that they are merely doing their job, and helping the public and the police in the process.

Why on earth would an actor, who tried as hard as possible to accurately portray the behaviour of a criminal, so as to help the police catch them, be attacked?

What a stupid question.

[squiggle]

I don't think it's a stupid question at all. The general public are known for not being able to distinguish between actors and the characters they play.

I heard one story about a soap actor who played a doctor, and a member of the public ran up and asked him to tend to her friend who'd had a funny turn.

I also remember a story about Jason Hervey who played Wayne, the annoying brother, in The Wonder Years. A bloke he'd never met came up to him in a bar, said "I used to have a brother like you", and punched him in the face!

The general public can be incredibly stupid sometimes.

[squiggle]

This is taken from the FAQs of the official Crimewatch website, so it looks like you're right, tali.


Are there any funny stories you can tell us about Crimewatch?

After watching a Crimewatch reconstruction a keen police officer noticed a man with similar looks and build, and attempted to arrest him. He soon discovered that the man in question was the actor Crimewatch had employed!

[gerry]

I believe Nick Ross said once in an interview that a woman phoned the police when she saw the guy they used in he reconstruction of a Building Society robbery.