Reviews > Movie News > Izzard mastered one-legged…

Funnyman Eddie Izzard became so attached to a walking aid he used during an upcoming role as one-legged pirate Long John Silver, he wanted to keep it after filming wrapped.

The comedian-turned-actor plays the notorious buccaneer in a new TV version of swashbuckling drama Treasure Island, and he underwent a dramatic transformation for the role.

Izzard shaved off his hair and built an obstacle course in director Steve Barron's house to help him master the art of walking with a primitive crutch.

But he became so dependent on his stick during filming, he felt naked without it when the cameras stopped rolling.

Izzard tells Celebs on Sunday magazine, "The director, Steve, wanted the realism of using the kind of crutch that was used in the 1700s. So I learnt to grip it in a particular way and I got swish at doing that.

"The leg was green-screened out but it never touched the ground so I was always walking on one leg. I got to love the crutch, have a relationship with it. I could go quite fast, even on the sand, really shovel on at quite a speed.

"It became part of the character and so I grew to like it. I wanted to keep it with me like soldiers keep their guns with them at all times in battle. There's a scene where the crutch isn't with me and that sort of alarms me when I watch it, I think, 'I don't remember leaving the crutch somewhere else!'"