David Suchet details how he perfected his walk as Poirot using a penny

David Suchet joked Good Morning Britain presenter Adil Ray was 'very naughty' when he brought up the unexpected way he perfected his walk as Hercule Poirot.The actor, 74, made an appearance on Wedensday's edition of the show, and relayed how he created the Belgian detective's gait by holding a penny in between his bottom cheeks when he first started preparing for the role in the 1980s.Amused by Adil's question, David began: 'You're very naughty, Adil. OK, well this is sort of a legendary story.  'When I read how Poirot walked, the description is that he crossed the lawn with his usual rapid mincing gait, I remembered Lawrence Olivier trying to find a way to walk as he rehearsed playing a restoration Fop and he did that. 'He put a penny between the cheeks of his butt and then walked around. I was on the Isle of Briar at the time, making another film, I was practising the walk.  'And yes, I will admit I put a penny between the cheeks of my butt and minced around the Isle of Briar. That's the end of that one!' David has previously spoken about the unexpected method he used to create the walk of Agatha Christie's iconic character in his memoir Poirot and Me, which was released in 2013.  In his memoir, he explained that he used the trick to figure out how to recreate the gait that Christie had described in her books ahead of his first camera test in costume for his ITV drama.Once he had made sure he perfected Poirot's gait, he no longer used the penny to force him to walk a certain way as it was ingrained in his memory.Elsewhere in the interview, David said he would be interested in starring in another Poirot film, despite filming the entire canon during his tenure at ITV, including Christie's final Poirot novel Curtain.He explained that he'd love to reprise his iconic role as Hercule Poirot for a big-screen production of the mystery drama series, but he doubts it would get the green light. Asked if he would be keen to star in a film, he said: 'I would be, but I don't think I will be so I'm not going to expect so I won't get disappointed.'David starred as the eponymous detective in Dame Agatha Christie's drama series from 1989 to 2013, and was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor in 1991.The show has recently been airing on TV screens across the globe, and he revealed his fan mail has doubled as a result of the repeats. He added: 'It's absolutely extraordinary, I wasn't expecting it. My fan mail has nearly doubled.'Around the world, letters are coming in, messages are coming, tweets are coming in. People are watching from South America, Australia, everywhere.'They're watching the whole box set again and it's so rewarding. Also, when I look at the television guide and see that I was on the whole weekend recently, I'm delighted.' While the likes of Kenneth Branagh and John Malkovich have taken on the role of Hercule Poirot in the 2017 film adaptation Murder on the Orient Express and BBC's 2018 adaptation of The ABC Murders respectively, David ha

Added 13 Apr 2026