ADRIAN LESTER

Adrian, 48, has starred in Hustle and

Undercover, and is currently in Sky Atlantic’s glossy 10-part thriller Riviera.

He lives in London with his wife, Lolita Chakrabarti, and their two daughters.

You spent several months filming

Riviera on the Côte D’azur. How awful for you!

Yes, such a strain getting up and going to work in such a beautiful place! Seriously, though, it was mind-boggling to see so much glitter and wealth in one place – the yachts, the real estate… it’s another world.

It’s a brilliant backdrop for the drama. There’s a lot of murkiness behind the glittering facade!

There certainly is, and in this drama, set in the glamorous but shady world of a multimillion dollar art dealership, nothing and no one are quite what they seem, including my character, Robert Carver.

Tell us a bit about him?

He’s an art connoisseur and dealer who has, shall we say, unconventional ways of making money for himself and his clients. He’s an ex of the main character, Georgina (played by Julia Stiles), whose billionaire husband has been blown up on a yacht in suspicious circumstances. He remains her confidante as her world unravels. He has many nice qualities but, like all the characters in Riviera, general trustworthiness is maybe not one of them.

Did it make you grateful for your own less-complicated life?

It did, actually. And although Riviera

shows a world that, on the surface, most of us are conditioned to want to be part of, you also see that there’s a price to pay. The main house we used for filming, for example, was a kind of metaphor. It looks stunning on screen – swimming pool, lovely gardens, room after room of opulence. And yet, somehow, it has no heart. Honestly, I’d much rather live in the cosiness and occasional chaos of our home in London.

Is it right that you and your wife, actress and writer Lolita, have known each other since you were 14?

Yes, we both grew up in Birmingham and met on the youth drama circuit there. But it wasn’t until we both found ourselves at RADA – I was 19, she was 18 – that we became a couple.

So you’ve been together for 30 years and married for 20 of them. What’s the secret?

It’s to do with the fact that we’ve remained a really solid unit through all the shifts and changes that life throws at you. You have to be able to adapt and grow as a couple, and we’ve always been good at that.

What makes Lolita special?

So many things. She’s a unique woman who is both incredibly talented in her own right as an actress and writer but also a fantastic mother to our daughters, Lila, 16, and Jasmine, 13.

Should your daughters’ future boyfriends be warned that you’re a black belt in taekwondo?

Perhaps we shouldn’t give the game away by saying that I’ve never been in a fight outside a taekwondo ring! I’ve trained in the sport, mostly as it keeps me fit, concentrates my mind and, strangely, practising to kick people in the head is quite relaxing!

You’re 50 next year, but you look a lot younger. How do you do it?

Thank you. I reckon I’m blessed with good genes. My mum doesn’t look her age and nor does my brother. On top of that, I eat well and exercise. The way I see it, your body is the house that you’ll live in the longest. Best to look after it!