Martin Compston is best known for his role as DCI Steve Arnott in hit BBC series Line of Duty, but is ready to take on new challenges in his next role.
The Scots actor, 37, is ditching the police station for the bedroom as he takes on the role of womaniser Bram Lawson in ITV series Our House.
Greenock -born Compston plays Bram in the series, alongside Downton Abbey's Tuppence Middleton who plays Fiona Lawson, his estranged wife.
In an interview with The Sun, Martin touched on the awkwardness of filming sex scenes and having to strip off in front of a full cast and crew.
He said: “Look, they’re always awkward. I mean, you’re getting your kit off and doing that kind of thing in front of a room full of people.
“It’s never something you look forward to. But at the same time you’ve got to commit to it. You want to make it real. So it’s awkward.
“But you really need to go for it once you’re in the moment. There used to be an old attitude which I suppose is of its time which was, ‘Oh, just get on with it — just do it’.
“But you kind of need to be aware of everybody’s boundaries, what everybody is comfortable with.”
Nowadays most productions, including Our House, hire intimacy coordinators who coach actors on how to film sex scenes safely and consensually, and Martin is fully in favour of that.
He said: “Somebody now has a job to come in, and actually a responsibility to talk everybody through it.
“In some ways, it’s kind of like a stunt. You have a fight co-ordinator — that’s what it is.
“Usually it’s you worrying about where you put your hand, or what you do. But somebody talks you both through everything, then it makes it a lot easier. But it’s still awkward, don’t get me wrong.”
He continued: “You stretch the realms of fantasy suggesting that I’m a womaniser, you know, and you’ve got all these gorgeous women throwing themselves at Bram.
“You’ve just got to try and find the charm in him, rather than thinking he’s just a pretentious d***. When you play any kind of character you always try to find a bit of sympathy for them.
“Bram gets himself in these morally shocking situations but you kind of have to be rooting for him and Fiona, otherwise there’s nobody cares what happens to them.”
Alongside Compston and Middleton, the stellar cast includes Whitechapel's Rupert Penry-Jones as Toby, I May Destroy You's Weruche Opia as Merle and Honour's Buket Komur as Wendy.
The four-part drama is adapted by Simon Ashdown from the international best-selling novel and produced by Red Planet Pictures.
Our House is coming soon to ITV and ITV Hub.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly Showbiz newsletter here .
