Bridget Jones star Leo Woodall has revealed how he nearly missed out on a ‘gut wrenching’ Netflix series after only having two weeks to lose weight.
The 29-year-old from London is best known for starring in HBO series The White Lotus before he set hearts racing in 2025’s Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.
However, it was his role as cheeky chappy Jack in Mike White’s anthology series that almost caused him to miss out on playing Dexter in Netflix’s ‘heartbreaking’ One Day.
Appearing on The Graham Norton Show on BBC One tonight, Leo joined Adolescence star Stephen Graham, Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco, Olivier award-winner Adrian Lester and British band Gorillaz.
Asked about his experience in One Day, however, Leo explained: ‘I nearly didn’t do it because I was filming White Lotus and was covered in fake tattoos when I auditioned for One Day.
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‘They thought the Cowabunga one on my neck was real. I had two weeks between roles to lose weight, change from an Essex accent to Dexter’s posh voice, and remove all the tattoos.’
He also added that this process ‘is a lot harder than you’d think’.
The White Lotus actor starred opposite Ambika Mod in the Netflix series, based on David Nicholls’ 2009 novel of the same name.
The This Is Going To Hurt actress Ambika played Emma opposite Dexter, whose relationship is depicted across a 20-year period, with viewers only getting to see one day of the year, July 15.
The characters’ heartbreaks and struggles are clear to see on screen, as well as moments that have left us sobbing.
What did Metro think of One Day?
Reacting to the series when it was released, @F_199x said on X that the series made them ‘feel sick’, adding: ‘This adaptation was every bit heartbreaking and beautiful as the book.’
Brianna also wrote: ‘Pressing play knowing it’s going to shred my heart into pieces all over again.’
Also chatting to Norton on the sofa, Adolescence star Stephen explained how the success of his Netflix show has ‘been so surreal’.
‘We never expected it. We just caught something in the zeitgeist and its success has been unbelievable.’
Asked about his upcoming book, Letters to Our Sons, which was inspired by the series, he added: ‘The scale of it is massive – it spans every walk of life, every subject matter, and every sort of father son relationship. It is something I am very proud of.’
The 52-year-old actor is also starring in a new dark comedy thriller called The Good Boy, which he called a ‘really strange little film’.
‘It’s weird, but good weird. It has a wonderful script, and I play a great character. He is bizarre and very different to anyone I normally play.’
The Graham Norton Show BBC One and iPlayer Friday 13th February 10.40pm.
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