Keeley Hawes makes rare family admission as she opens up on 'authentic' new drama

Keeley Hawes made a rare family admission as she opened up on her "authentic" new drama.

The Bodyguard actor is set to star in Prime Video's upcoming thriller series, The Assassin, which comes from The Tourist writers Harry and Jack Williams. The six-part drama follows a retired assassin called Julie, played by Keeley, who has made a new life for herself on an idyllic Greek island.

However, when her estranged son, Edward (Freddie Highmore), turns up with questions about his father, Julie's dangerous past soon catches up with her.

"With questions around Edward's paternity and Julie's past life as a hitwoman, the pair go on the run across Europe, working together in a fight for survival," reads the official synopsis.

"Along the way, their dysfunctional relationship is tested to its limits. They uncover a dark conspiracy they believe to be their only threat, but a greater danger emerges that could destroy their relationship entirely."

The description concludes: "In a race against time, Julie fights to save Edward and salvage their relationship as past and present collide in a showdown across the globe."

Alongside Keeley and Freddie, the series also stars Shalom Brune-Franklin, Devon Terrell, Gina Gershon, Jack Davenport, Alan Dale, Richard Dormer and David Dencik.

Speaking to Reach and other press ahead of the show's premiere, Keeley shared how her real-life parenting experiences helped inform her character Julie's relationship with her son.

The 49-year-old actor shares 20-year-old daughter Maggie and 18-year-old son Ralph with her husband, Succession actor Matthew Macfadyen, and is also mum to 24-year-old Myles McCallum, whom she shares with her first husband, Spencer.

"I have two sons - three children, two sons... So, I can totally relate to it," she said. "What I loved about it is quite often you see relationships on screen and it's people getting along and they don't feel particularly real. Whereas, this feels very honest, very authentic.

"You know, you do get p***** off with each other when you have children, and they certainly get p***** off with me. There is quite a lot of sarcasm and my kids, I find them very funny so I really related to this and loved how truthful it felt."

On Julie and Edward's interactions, she added: "They're brutal with each other a lot of the time, and those relationships that you have with your children, sometimes they're the only people that you can be that brutal with, because they can't get rid of you. It doesn't matter what you say or what they say, so that's what I took from it that was quite useful for me."

Keeley went on to reveal that she is "great friends" with her eldest son, which she feels translates into Julie's layered on-screen relationship with Edward.

"My oldest son is 25 next month... I was young when I had him," she said. "I am his mother, I'm very much his mother but at the same time, we have a relationship that is not like siblings, but we're great friends as well. And I think something similar has happened there."

The Assassin will premiere on Prime Video on Friday, July 25