Keeley Hawes spooked by kidnap drama

British actress Keeley Hawes has recalled a terrifying incident in which she feared she had fallen victim to a kidnap attempt. The Spooks star has revealed the incident took place after she flew to Northern Ireland to begin work on crime drama Line of Duty. The actress was met at Belfast airport by a pre-booked mini-cab driver holding a sign with her name on it, but she became suspicious as the man led her to his car.
She explains to Britain’s Radio Times magazine, “We’d just walked through the sliding doors out of the airport when I looked over and saw a bunch of drivers from a big cab firm and there was another sign with my name on.
“The second one looked slightly more official. I said, ‘Has there been a double booking?’ The guy with my case said, ‘I don’t know.’ I said, ‘Well, who called you?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ Then he let go of my case (suitcase) and walked off… I should have noticed something when I said hello and he said ‘Oh, I was hoping you’d be blonde.’ That’s not something people normally say – I guess it’s a bit creepy… it was a bit frightening.”
Hawes contacted a police adviser working on her TV show and asked him to look into the incident, and a spokeswoman for the TV drama now insists “there were concerns” at the time but blames the misunderstanding on “a double booking on the taxi”.