Skip to main contentSkip to footer

Poirot star David Suchet reveals fascinating reason he never remembered his lines

The actor appeared on a recent episode of This Morning

poirot david suchet
Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
Share this:

Agatha Christie's Poirot saw David Suchet play the iconic titular character for over 20 years, so it could be said that the actor knows the character inside out. However, it seems that David had rather unconventional techniques of ensuring he would always remember his lines while filming.

MORE: Agatha Christie's Poirot star David Suchet looks unrecognisable in early career

WATCH: David Suchet reveals why he never remembers lines from his previous roles

Chatting during a recent appearance on This Morning, the film and stage star explained how he would deliberately forget his lines from the day before, to avoid confusion while filming present scenes.

MORE: Ruth Jones reveals why Gavin and Stacey's future episodes are on hold

david suchet this morning© Photo: Rex

David was chatting on This Morning about his time on the show

After self-confessed Poirot fans Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield asked the actor if he could still recite lines from his earlier acting days, David replied: "No, I have a complete hard-drive wipe."

He added: "In fact, when I did my Poirot series, I could not hardly remember anything I'd said the day before, because there is so much, if I retain that many lines in my head, I just explode. I just have an automatic hard drive wipe."

poirot© Photo: Rex

David played the titular character for over 20 years

The 74-year-old, who is also an esteemed Shakespearean theatre actor, also expressed his joy for the ITV show and how it opened many more opportunities for him. "It completely changed my life," he began, adding: "I don't think I would have ever been able to play, if it hadn't been for my [Poirot] experience, Shakespeare with the Royal Shakespeare Company and plays like Long Day's Journey into Night, All My Sons, even Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest.

"So I was able to, because of the profile that Poirot gave me, not only to do more theatre work but also to do more television work and also Hollywood films so it just opened up a whole new life for me."

David began playing the role of Hercule Poirot in 1989 and continued until the thirteenth and final series in 2013. Alongside David were stars such as Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson, Pauline Moran and Zoe Wannamaker.

Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.