Martin Compston dishes on his Line Of Duty co-stars in our exclusive interview
The star of TV’S biggest drama tells Boyd Hilton about his wild nights and Whatsapp chats while making Line Of Duty
Martin Compston has one of the all-time great audition stories. He was in LA, up for the role of Scotty in JJ Abrams’ 2009 big-budget blockbuster reboot of Star Trek. But the actor got his East and his West Hollywood addresses mixed up and ended up at a massage parlour. He went as far as knocking on the door and asking where the audition was, only to be asked repeatedly if he wanted a massage, until he eventually realised he was supposed to be on the other side of town and turned up 90 minutes late.
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t get the role, which instead went to Simon Pegg (“who’s nearly 20 years older than me,” points out Compston, now 36), but he has no regrets. Because he’s now one of the three leads in the most successful – and best – dramas on British TV.
Line Of Duty is the brainchild of writer Jed Mercurio who, over five series (and the sixth about to arrive), has woven a dense web of storylines revolving around the anti police-corruption team AC-12, led by Superintendent Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar), with his colleagues DI Kate Fleming (Vicky Mcclure) and DS Steve Arnott (Compston).
They’ve been making the show for a decade now, and in that time, it’s become a pop-culture phenomenon, famous for its stunning shock moments, massive twists, and amazing guest leads, from Keeley Hawes and Thandie Newton to, in the new run, Kelly Macdonald.
When we fire up the Zoom on the heat laptop for our chat with Martin – who lives in Las Vegas with his American actress wife Tianna Chanel Flynn and their baby – it’s clear he’s as excited as we are to see the new series back on our screens…
How do you feel now the new series of Line Of Duty is finally about to arrive? Terrified! Actually, I’m genuinely intrigued to see how it’s turned out. We had a seven-month gap in the middle of filming, and there’s a scene where I’m standing there talking to Adrian one minute, then I walk round the corner. On screen, it’s the same scene, but there were seven months between those two shots, because we had to stop filming and go into lockdown.
So, I’m really interested to see how that looks in the finished show.
Did you have to make sure you looked the same when you resumed filming?
Yeah, but my body shape was quite different after lockdown. I could barely do up my tailored threepiece suits! I was in quarantine just before we restarted and I thought it was going to be all wine and Domino’s pizza for two weeks, but it turned out to be an exercise bike, water and bloody soup.
How was it to be reunited with Vicky and Adrian?
It was a funny one, because when we first started filming series six, it was all giddy and exciting. We were thrilled to be back together, and we had some great nights out. Then, we came back after lockdown, and we weren’t allowed out. It was a weird contrast.
Do you keep in touch with each other when you’re not filming?
Oh, yeah. The first text I got this morning was from Adrian about football, and the last person I spoke to last night was Vicky. They are genuinely two of my best friends. We talk a lot on the Whatsapp group, and we have a catch-up every few days or so on the same call – we’re a massive support to each other. Don’t get me wrong, we know how to piss each other off as well. We know how to wind each other up, as all good friends do. But when we need to come through for each other, we do. Me and Vicky, we have a very similar background and work ethic.
Is it difficult to keep the show’s plot secrets?
The only time I made a huge mistake was when I was in America. I was doing one of those “tweet-along” things, for the episode when Keeley [Hawes] came back in series three, and they gave me a link to watch it and tweet as it was going out in the UK. But the clocks had just gone back here, so I was an hour ahead and I tweeted, “Look who’s back… here she is!” But I wasn’t getting any reaction apart from some people saying, “What are you talking about?” And I suddenly realised, “Oh f**k, it’s not started back home yet!” So, I really panicked, but I got away with it. That was the last time I did anything like that.
Do you have armed guards delivering the scripts?
[Laughs.] Well, they used to just come in the post, but now we do have codes and passwords, and our names watermarked on them. Because we’re on series six now and the show keeps getting more popular, so there is a bit of a circus that surrounds us. When we’re out on the street in Belfast filming, we do get paps taking pictures, and you get hundreds of people watching.
Spoiler alert: your facial hair is at its peak this series. Was that your decision?
It was a bit of both. Jed does like to show a bit of progression with the way we look, whether it’s a new haircut or something. I’ve usually got some kind of beard, because I look about 12 when I shave, but I usually turn up the way I think I want to look for the whole series and I’ll get either a “yes” or a “no”. This year, I did show up with quite a big beard and they liked it.
Can you tell us anything about the new series without spoiling it?
What’s really exciting for me this series is that my character, Steve, has a really tough time. You really see how much he’s struggling with his bad back [having been thrown off a balcony several floors up in series four], and that leads to a situation where he’s taking pills. It’s getting out of control, and it was beautiful to be able to play that. Because his job really is everything to him, and he puts on this front that he’s Supercop, but in fact, mentally and physically, he’s falling to pieces. So, there were some really tough scenes for me to film this time, but they were such a gift as well.
Will you check the reactions to the new series?
You can’t avoid it. Every time I turn my phone on, I see people talk about it. But I’m pretty confident. There’s a run of three episodes in particular that are so thrilling – those scripts were the best I’ve ever read. If we nailed what was on the page and get it on to the screen, then we’re on to a winner.
You’re from Greenock in Scotland – are people surprised by your cockney accent in the show?
Aye, sometimes. It’s funny, because Steve Arnott was always described as coming from Greater London, so I tried that accent in the audition and I got it. But, of course, there have been loads of Scottish actors in the show… a lot. The accent is hard work, but once
I get back to filming and get into that voice, I immediately feel like Steve again. So, it’s turned out to be a good thing.
And do you keep doing the accent throughout shooting?
Yes, until about four pints in, then the Scottish comes out. I like to keep in the accent, because people become accent detectives and they’re looking for me to make a mistake, whereas if I stay in that accent all the time, I get used to it. Usually, when I f**k it up, it’s at night, and this year for some reason we had a conversation about Puss In Boots. I ended up saying it wrong, and that really caught me out. The dialogue is so challenging and dense, if you throw an accent in as well, you’re gubbed [Scottish slang for “beaten”]. So, I can’t be worrying about my accent. If you’re sitting opposite Kelly Macdonald in a massive interview scene, you can’t be doing that.
What is the most legendary thing about your legendary co-star Adrian Dunbar?
What I love about Adrian is that he’s like the Prince of Belfast. He knows everybody and, of course, he’s got his own mural there now. I love seeing him in his element with his neck scarf on, with a cocktail in his hand, holding court, singing, laughing, and just being a force of nature. He can play a bit daft, but he’s an extremely intelligent man. We can sit and talk for hours about politics or football or whatever. I love seeing him, and he’s always got something on – he’s very sociable. But mainly I love seeing him swan around Belfast in a neck scarf.
Tell us something surprising about Vicky…
Well, she’s the most instinctive actor I’ve worked with. Sometimes she doesn’t understand what’s happening in the script, but when she films the scene, she’s brilliant, even though she might not have the faintest idea what she was talking about! She also looks after us all. I remember during series two, before I’d got married and really calmed down. I had a mammoth house party for the crew, which went on far too long. The first few series were like a non-stop stag do – we worked very hard, but there was a lot of mayhem. And in the wee hours of the morning, Vicky was in my flat, cleaning up, ordering me a pizza, putting me to bed and bringing me four cans of lager! She’s just an angel.
What’s it like living in Vegas, especially during lockdown?
In some ways, it’s set up for lockdown, because you have drive-thru banks and drive-thru shops and drive-thru everything. It’s also really quiet where we live – I can be anonymous there.
Finally, what’s the best thing about being in AC-12?
Working with Adrian, Vicky and Jed. I feel honoured to be part of a show where the quality is so high – long may it continue.
Line Of Duty starts Sunday 21 March, BBC1, 9pm. See page 76 for preview, and look out for it soon on heat’s #Ruwatching – heatworld.com/ruwatching
‘I love seeing Adrian Dunbar swan around in a neck scarf’