Rachael Stirling says that being cast opposite Rob Lowe in a new police drama is a dream come true, as he was her teenage crush.
Rachael plays the Hollywood actor’s love interest in ITV’s upcoming series Wild Bill, and admits she was a bit star-struck.
The actress, 41, says: “It didn’t seem quite real .
“Bearing in mind, I was at an all-girls... boarding school, and one of the only films we were allowed to watch was St Elmo’s Fire,” she said of the 1985 classic starring Rob, 55.
“You had 500 girls who every weekend on a Saturday would watch it again and again. Rob was all of our heart-throbs.”
Rachael – whose mum is actress Dame Diana Rigg, 80 – says of telling her school pals about her new role: “My best friend said, ‘Get the f*** out of here’. She could not believe it.”
The actress was not shy about coming clean to Rob about her crush. She said he “howled with laughter” when she confessed, adding: “He didn’t seem that surprised, to be honest.”
In Wild Bill, which starts next month, West Wing star Rob plays Bill Hixon, a US cop who moves to the UK. Rachael stars as his potential girlfriend, barrister and judge Mary Harborough QC.
While Rachael was thrown by being cast alongside her heart-throb, she is no stranger to a sex scene, after starring in 2002’s racy BBC drama Tipping the Velvet, alongside Bodyguard star Keeley Hawes, 43.
And she is delighted in Wild Bill the female character takes charge. She says: “She starts off thinking he’s a piece of eye candy and probably good for a gallop. I get to objectify Rob Lowe a lot.”
After their first love scene, Mary leaves the bedroom first, which Rachael says felt empowering. “I’m just leaving, fully clothed, and he’s lying there with his pretty glorious pecs on display. I like that.
“There’s always more room for girls to be the ones doing the wham, bam, thank you, sir.”
Wild Bill is set post-Brexit in Boston, Lincolnshire, where the murder rate is high and the last thing the locals want is a US cop taking over. But the location is crucial to the story, says Rachael, who is married to Elbow singer Guy Garvey, 45, with whom she has a son, two.
She explains: “As a county it feels forgotten. It feels dismembered by the rest of the country, hence its vehement tendency towards Brexit , despite this massive immigrant population making the cogs of industry turn.”
That said, she insists it is not too heavy: “It’s a funny, light-hearted, joyful, escapist drama where you get to see Rob Lowe being hot and funny. I don’t think it’ll be taken as some sort of flag-waving excuse for nationalistic activity.”
*Wild Bill is on ITV from June 12
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