Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff was reportedly once considered for a major television role before being named as a presenter on Top Gear. The ex-cricketer was tapped for his “quiet charisma”, claims a leading crime novelist.
Former actress Lynda Joy La Plante is perhaps best known for writing the police procedural series Prime Suspect. Starring Dame Helen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison, the programme ran from April 1991 to 2006.
Almost 11 years later, the 81-year-old brought the prequel series Prime Suspect: 1973 to ITV for a single season. In her new memoir, Getting Away with Murder: My Unexpected Life on Page, Stage and Screen, Lynda has revealed she originally eyed Freddie, 46, for the role of DCI Bradfield.
The part was eventually handed to Australian actor Sam Reid after bosses claimed the Field of Dreams star was “not good enough.” As reported by the Daily Star, Lynda discussed casting DCI Bradfield in her book. “Of course, I came out of left field with my first suggestion but I really did think it would work.
“I’d been glued to the sports game show A League of Their Own hosted by James Corden. The ex-cricketer Freddie Flintoff captained one team and I found myself drawn in by him. What an interesting Bradfield he might make, I thought.”
It’s understood Lynda approached Freddie before he was announced as a Top Gear co-host in 2018 to gauge his interest in the role.
As reported by the outlet, she recalled: “After I contacted Freddie’s manager and met with Freddie I put it to him: ‘Have you ever thought of acting?’ ‘I’d love to,’ he answered, although he admitted that a lead part scared him.
“’You have something,’ I reassured him. And he did – a quiet charisma.”
Lynda went on to say Freddie supplied her with a short tape of him acting out a scene which she dutifully showed to Prime Suspect: 1973 showrunners.
“To me, it would have been such a coup to give him his first major acting role. ‘He’s not good enough.’ That was the immediate response,” she lamented.
“It felt as though he’d hardly been considered. Back to the drawing board, I thought.”
Following Freddie’s alleged failed acting attempt, he was cast alongside Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris on Top Gear.
He co-hosted the long-running motoring show from 2019 up until he was severely injured in a crash at Dunsfold Aerodrome in December 2022.
In a clip shown during season two of Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams in August, the star claimed he “genuinely should not” be alive after the horror incident.
“This is going to be a long road back and I have only just started and I am struggling already. Got to look at the positive side, I’m still here, I’ve got another chance. I’ve got a go at it… a second go.”
In another scene, the Lancashire-born sportsman confessed he was still riddled with anxiety seven months on from the accident.
“I thought I could just shake it off,” he admitted. “I wanted to shake it off and say ‘here I am, I’m alright’. But it’s not been a case of that, it’s been a lot harder than I thought.
“As much as I wanted to go out and do things, I have just not been able to.”
Following the former A League of Their Own panellist’s accident in 2022, BBC bosses announced Top Gear would not be returning to the small screen for the “foreseeable future”
Earlier this month, the ex-all-rounder was named as the head coach of the England Lions Men’s programme for the upcoming year.
He has previously served as an assistant coach for England’s white-ball teams and helmed the Northern Superchargers’ men’s squad in The Hundred competition.
Freddie claimed the appointment was a “fantastic opportunity” and that he looked forward to shaping “the future of the men’s game.”
