Baptiste star Tcheky Karyo initially turned down the role of the detective in The Missing (Image: BBC)
Tchéky Karyo won critical acclaim for playing French detective Julien Baptiste in the BBC's The Missing season one and two, which first began in 2014. However, the actor originally said no to the role for a few reasons and a “very famous French actor” was cast instead. The 65-year-old initially said the storyline made him “anxious” following the birth of his daughter. The first series of the The Missing focussed on the disappearance of a young child and featured the likes of Keeley Hawes and James Nesbitt.
I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t want to be stuck for six month
Tchéky Karyo
In an interview with the latest issue of Radio Times, Tchéky spoke about turning down Baptiste, ahead of the character’s return to screens in his third outing this evening.
He said: “I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t want to be stuck for six months filming. I didn’t want to sign for three years.
“And the story was making me anxious: my daughter was just born.”
He called his agent and pulled out and the role was given to someone else, writer Jack Williams revealed.
But the “famous French actor” is said to have “pulled