Christopher Walken painted over a £10 million Banksy

14 November 2021, 09:00

Christopher Walken with painted over Banksy inset. Picture: 1. STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images 2. BBC's Outlaws still

The Hollywood legend paints over a giant rat in BBC series The Outlaws, which was created by the street artist.

Christopher Walken painted over a £10 million Banksy artwork when he was filming The Outlaws.

The Hollywood movie legend appears as former prisoner Frank in the new BBC comedy, which was created by Stephen Merchant, and in the final episode his character paints over a giant rat, which was created by the world-famous street artist.

"The creative team came up with the dream scenario and got in touch with the artist’s representatives in the faint hope that he might help them," revealed a TV insider to The Sun.

"Then they discovered shortly afterwards that he’d been to the location where they were filming and left something behind.

"They couldn’t believe their luck as he’d painted a giant rat using his hallmark stencilling technique as well as his distinctive signature."

According to reports, Banksy was happy to go along with the stunt, but he wanted the The Deer Hunter actor to be the one holding the paint roller in the scenes.

The insider added: "His only stipulation was that they really did paint over it - and it would be his hero Christopher holding the roller."

Stephen Merchant told Radio X's Ed Gamble and Matthew Crosby. how he was terrified that the 78-year-old actor would get COVID-19 on his watch as he couldn't help greeting fans.

I was so terrified of him catching COVID on my watch," said The Office star. "It was difficult filming under those circumstances anyway, but particularly got an icon that you're responsible for.

"Every day I was sort of on a knife edge. Every time it looked like someone was going to sneeze, I'd kind of jump in front of Walken like I was saving the President from a bullet. I was just on tenterhooks all the time."

Stephen Merchant on working with Christopher Walken

We'd done so much to protect him," he went on. "We'd given him security and he was being shepherded from his hotel to the set and then back again... Everyone was in masks, with all this distancing.

"I turn round one day and I notice right at the edge of the set, he's just got his arm around some local Bristolian and they're just doing selfies!

"I rushed over there and pulled him away and said, 'Chris, what are you doing?' He said, 'Oh he's a fan, he tracked down where we were filming and he's brought me a bottle of Jim Beam'."

He added: "I feel like a Bristolian had walked into a Poundland and gone, 'What would you buy an American film star? A tin of hot dogs? No, probably a bottle of Jim Beam.

"So for a week I was waiting for the symptoms to break out - because this Bristolian guy... he was obviously not taking care of himself. He was wearing flip flips in February!"

Stephen Merchant's The Outlaws is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.