Daniel Mays shares why he used counselling to tackle tough ITV role: 'Invaluable to me'

Olivia Gantzer
Thu, 23 Apr 2026 10:15:12 +0000

Daniel Mays shared the tough impact one of his latest roles had on him as he opened up about portraying the "black cab rapist" in upcoming ITV drama, Believe Me.

The veteran actor is no stranger to taking on intense roles, but portraying real-life criminal John Worboys saw him taking full advantage of the on-set counsellor.

Speaking to GB News and other media, Mr Mays shared that he had spent some time speaking to the professional, adding it had been "needed."

"We did also have access to a counselor as well, I ended up having a half-hour conversation with her in the last week, which was definitely needed. It was invaluable to me," he commented.

Believe Me tells the story of how the victims of one of the most prolific sex attackers in British history were failed by the system.

Worboys was dubbed the "black cab rapist" after preying on women under the cover of being a "respectable" licensed taxi driver.

He was convicted in 2009 for crimes including sexual assault and drugging with intent against twelve women between 2006 and 2008, with their cases selected from a large number of suspected further victims.

An ITV synopsis describes how his modus operandi was to pick up women in his cab after they'd been on a night out, claim that he'd had a win at a casino or on the lottery, then persistently offer them a drug-laced glass of champagne to help him "celebrate," which then rendered his victims unconscious.

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The drama focuses on the ordeal of Sarah (played Aimée-Ffion Edwards) and Laila (played Aasiya Shah), who reported sexual assaults by Worboys, and how the Metropolitan Police failed to thoroughly investigate their allegations, leading them to feel that they were just not believed.

Speaking about support on-set, Ms Edwards reflected on the intimacy coordinators who supported the cast.

She explained: "What is so brilliant about having an intimacy coordinators is there's an acknowledgement that some scenes, they don't have to be physical to feel intimate.

"And I think is in this case as well, the examination scenes, in lots of ways, were actually more intimate than the actual stuff in the in the taxi, and I think also that goes hand in hand with this idea that they couldn't necessarily remember the attack.

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"But the process that comes after that, in terms of the investigation and the evidence they need to collect is so harrowing, and it's its own other thing.

"And when I read the script, it was actually the examination scenes that I found the hardest to read. I thought they were most harrowing actually.

"And what's really interesting as well with the taxi stuff. You sort of get that, you that you didn't feed the attack, because it's so claustrophobic, the imagination just kind of takes over.

"And even with those scenes, I don't think me and Danny really had much physical contact, but you're still a woman in the back of a car that is locked with a with someone else in total control of that.

"And so there's an emotional element to that which I think is sort of invisible, but having an intimacy coordinator, they're there to see that and make sure that there is always a safe space, and to ask those questions that maybe when, when an actor is feeling quite vulnerable, doesn't have the capacity to ask, or feel like they can ask or even know sometimes.

"And she does this amazing check in and check out, and she will check out on the day, but she'll also check out after the day, because I guess she knows that sometimes you can be fine and then suddenly, I guess the body doesn't necessarily know that this is not your trauma.

"You know, your head knows it's not your trauma, you're so connected that a day after, you might feel things that you don't really feel like they belong to you.

"I think having a space and someone to just check in encourages you to process that in a healthy way."

Believe Me is set to air this May on ITV.