The actor, 46, reveals five secrets from the set of ITV’s new period drama

1 I play Tom Parker, an architect and financier and one of the forces behind the plan to turn the fishing village of Sanditon into a major seaside resort. The series, based on an unfinished novel by Jane Austen, is set in Regency England and we had to be very careful about the language we used when filming. I found it so hard not to drop in a little ‘OK’ or an ‘all right’.

2 Observing the correct Regency etiquette was also a struggle. Doing a scene with Anne Reid, who plays Lady Denham [pictured, with Kris as Tom], I automatically put my hand on her back. Then I thought, ‘Lady Denham and Tom have a business relationship. I shouldn’t be touching her at all!’ And it took a while before playing somebody as grand as Tom Parker started to wear off. For several weeks I was walking around Sainsbury’s with my arms crossed behind my back.

3 My costumes were very tight, especially the breeches, and sometimes I felt like I had a corset on. The catering on set was very good so I had to watch what I was eating, or the clothes would become even tighter.

4 There’s some male nudity in the series, and I was keenly aware I was the most senior of the men who strip off by 15 years. So, a daily workout was a must and I also swam in the sea; at least, I did to begin with, until my hair started to turn green – the dye they’d put in it, to make it darker than my natural colour, had reacted badly to the salt water.

5 We did have some sea-bathing scenes in the drama and they were really challenging, as we filmed them in March. The water was cold enough at 8°C to merit having medical staff on standby. And I did come out pretty chilly!