Line of Duty star Martin Compston has revealed how he can’t wear waistcoats in ‘real life’ because they ‘turn him’ Cockney-speaking DS Steve Arnott.
The 37-year-old Scot, who plays a wideboy London cop in the hit BBC show said his ‘trademark waistcoat’ had ‘ruined’ his joy of wearing one in real life.
He said that Adrian Dunbar - who plays Superintendent Ted Hastings - bought him a waistcoat as an ‘end-of-series’ gift - but that he ‘couldn’t wear it’ out of character.
He said: “Adrian bought me one as an end-of-series gift. I bought him a Celtic top and he bought me this beautiful waistcoat.
“Problem is, playing Steve has killed them for me. I cannae wear them any more. It's like putting on the character.”
Speaking about his character in the show, he said: “The waistcoats are partly because he thinks he's Sherlock Holmes, one of the great detectives, and partly because he's the overdressed pr**k at work.”
The Scot, who played for footy team Greenock Morton as a lad, said he ‘dreamed in English’ when playing cockney speaking DS Arnott.
He told the New Review supplement recently: “I don't break accent when we're filming, so a lot of people just think that's how I talk.
“We do 35-minute takes with 25 pages of dialogue, so the accent can start to slip towards the end of a long day's filming.
“Or on pint four, if we're out for the night.
“It takes a lot out of you - I start talking to myself in English, dreaming in English. You find different shades of yourself. I'm definitely more cocky in a London accent.”
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