Alex Hassell was not the ‘blond, blue-eyed Adonis’ that iconic author Jilly Cooper envisioned for her character Rupert Campbell-Black – but there is no doubt she was quickly won over
Alex Hassell didn’t think he was ever capable of playing ultra-macho Rupert Campbell-Black in Rivals – and even attempted to swerve the audition!
The 46-year-old was not the ‘blond and blue-eyed Adonis’ that writer Dame Jilly Cooper envisioned for her character but was soon fully behind Disney producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins’ decision to cast him for the role. Alex will never forget what the legendary author told him before she died last year after he doubted his ability to pull it off.
He had some help along the way and speaking ahead of Rivals’ return on November 11, Alex told Radio Times: “I was fearful of playing Rupert because I had an inherent feeling of what a man should be.
To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror and to find them easily in Google then make us your preferred source. Free and easy-to-do, just click on the link here to find more from The Mirror at the top of your feed.
“I didn’t think I was capable of playing that alpha, macho Lothario.” On what Jilly, who wrote the 1980s bonkbusters, said to him after taking on the role in 2024, he explained: “I’m so glad to have met her and to have spent time with her and to be told explicitly by her that she was really proud of what I was doing.
“That’s one of the last things she said to me, and that’s really moving to remember and think about.” But he has certainly caught the eye of smooth-talking Rupert, and he admits he’s had to put in the hours to get his figure up to the standards required.
He went on: “I do think it’s important to say that I had a personal trainer, and I didn’t do any crazy diets. It’s not that people are just supposed to look like that – it took a lot of work.”
Even the actor has admitted that when he saw who he was playing, he tried to get out of the audition. “I read the description and just thought, ‘They’re not going to cast me as that role’, he said after accepting the job.
“I phoned my agent and said that the project was good and really interesting, but I just thought there’d be no point – he’s blond and blue-eyed in the book.
“But they convinced me otherwise, and somehow I ended up getting the part, and then had to try and get over the idea that he had that description.”
Dame Jilly addressed the casting a year before her death, and while she accepted she wasn’t sure at first, it took her next to no time to be won over by Alex.
She said: “I was slightly concerned at first because my Rupert in the book is a blond and blue-eyed Adonis, and Alex is very dark-eyed and olive-skinned but he is such a good actor, who’s done a great deal of Shakespeare, that the moment he appears on screen, he exudes ruthless glamour and later even tenderness and vulnerability.
“The more I see of him, the better and sexier he gets. And he’s very good. They’re building Rupert out as a multi-layered character, which they’ve done brilliantly.”
Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
