He has spent years perfecting his Southern accent while playing DI Steve Arnott on BBC police drama Line Of Duty.
So it was little wonder why some fans were stunned to discover that actor Martin Compston was in fact Scottish, when he appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show on Saturday night.
Tuning into the ITV show, viewers rushed to Twitter to share their shock at the 36-year-old actor’s voice, with one confused fan tweeting: ‘Excuse me, why is Steve Arnott Scottish?’.
Say what?! Line Of Duty fans were stunned to discover that actor Martin Compston was in fact Scottish, when he appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show on Saturday night
Martin, who hails from Greenock in Scotland had joined Line Of Duty co-star Vicky McClure (Kate Fleming) on the chat show where they opened up on the latest series of the Jed Mercurio penned drama.
But while it may be common knowledge to most that Martin is not a southerner like he portrays onscreen, there were many viewers who were not aware of this information and took to social media to voice their amazement.
‘Wait what? Martin Compston is Scottish?’ questioned one baffled fan.
Stunned: Tuning into the ITV show, viewers rushed to Twitter to share their shock at the 36-year-old actor’s voice, with one confused fan tweeting: ‘Excuse me, why is Steve Arnott Scottish?’
While another declared: ‘I will never get over Martin Compston’s Scottish accent.’
A third asked: ‘Urm excuse me, why is Steve arnott Scottish.’
With a fourth tweeting: ‘Okay so why did I never know that the actor for Steve Arnott was actually Scottish, mind blown.’
Hard graft: Martin has spent years perfecting his Southern accent while playing DI Steve Arnott on BBC police drama Line Of Duty
One person hailed Martin’s acting skills as the reason behind people’s bewilderment, writing: ‘OMG all the people realising that Martin Compston is Scottish thanks to Jonathan Ross just shows how good an actor he is ( Compston, not Ross).’
With an additional person borrowing a line from Superintendent Ted Hastings as they penned: ‘Wait… Steve Arnott @martin_compston is actually Scottish?! Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee Donkey, who would’ve thought it.’
Meanwhile on the show, Scottish star Martin revealed the special technique he uses to help learn his lines and make sure his fake accent rings true.
OMG: While it may be common knowledge to most that Martin is not a southerner like he portrays onscreen, there were many viewers who were not aware of this information and took to social media to voice their amazement
Martin, who typically speaks with his native accent, discussed working on his accent skills while playing DI Arnott on the popular BBC show.
When asked how he manages it, Martin says: ‘It can be hard, that dialogue on its own would be hard anyway, throw the accent in there…
‘The scene we did the other night, 30-pager, trying to juggle the accent at the same time. When we’re away from it for a long time, when I do that voice I can hear him, it’s like a costume.’
Practice makes perfect: Scottish star Martin revealed the special technique he uses to help learn his lines and make sure his fake accent rings true
Martin says someone records his lines for him to listen to: ‘I walk about all day with him in my ears. It’s just graft. I’m not naturally good at accents. I need to work harder, which then makes me better because I’m not complacent with it.’
He adds: ‘If you’re in these scenes with these amazing actors, amazing guest stars, it’s intimidating enough without worrying about the accent. Speaking to the wife and stuff I’ll drop it, I very much stay in it [on set].’
Elsewhere during the interview, Martin discussed how he struggled to fit into his infamous waistcoats after putting on weight during lockdown.
Secret to his craft: Martin, who typically speaks with his native accent, discussed working on his accent skills while playing DI Arnott on the popular BBC show
When asked how he manages it, Martin says: ‘It can be hard, that dialogue on its own would be hard anyway, throw the accent in there…’
He said: ‘[I’d] just finished filming The Nest, had my top off a fair bit in that… I’m usually a 32, got down to 30, now I’ve got these tailored suits for Line of Duty.
‘We start filming, lockdown happens, up to about a 34… I couldn’t get them on. I couldn’t even get the shirts buttoned. Two weeks of hours on an exercise bike, eating soup, water… miserable.’
Martin also discussed how he receives some racy DMs and has been offered several proposals – marriage and otherwise.
Martin says someone records his lines for him to listen to: ‘I walk about all day with him in my ears. It’s just graft. I’m not naturally good at accents’
He says: ‘The Instagram DMs get a bit out of hand… a lot of stuff I wish I hadn’t seen… I need to stop looking at them. A lot of marriage proposals and a lot of proposals of other stuff from both sexes I must say.’
Ahead of Sunday’s series six Line Of Duty finale, Martin teased that fans will get some ‘big answers’ during the finale, as he admitted he believes it could be the ‘perfect ending’ to the police drama.
The actor spoke to the Shrine Of Duty podcast ahead of the last episode this weekend.
Snug: Elsewhere during the interview, Martin discussed how he struggled to fit into his infamous waistcoats after putting on weight during lockdown
He confessed that while he thinks Sunday’s episode could be the best way to wrap up the ‘story arch’ – he also refused to rule out another series.
When quizzed on whether viewers will learn who the illusive ‘H’ is, Martin said: ‘I wouldn’t quite go the Jo Davidson no comment route – but what I will tell you is I think there’s a lot of pay offs coming this Sunday.
‘There’s a lot of big answers and it’s deserved, people have stuck with us for a long time, so there comes a point where the story arch comes to an end.’
Teaser: Martin teased that fans will get some ‘big answers’ during the finale, as he admitted he believes it could be the ‘perfect ending’ to the police drama
Martin also touched on whether series seven is likely, after show bosses previously claimed they believed the current season would be the last.
He said: ‘We don’t know [if there will be another] – that’s nothing new. Jed always takes time after a series, like a couple of months.
‘There’s a lot of stuff above my pay grade like analytics and audience scores. He takes the emotion out of it and looks at all that.’
Admitting it could be the ‘perfect ending’, he said: ‘It’s different this year, because we have to look it in terms of, do people want us back? 10 years in you start to think of legacy, and if it goes down that well it might be the perfect ending.’
‘But then we might go another couple of months and… what I will say is we won’t do one just for the sake of doing it. Jed will only do it if there’s a story to be told.’
Omg! Martin confessed that while he thinks Sunday’s episode could be the best way to wrap up the ‘story arch’ – he also refused to rule out another series
It comes as Vicky McClure’s mother has suggested her own daughter’s character Kate Fleming could be the elusive ‘H’.
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Carol said of the mystery: ‘We don’t know anything, 100% not. We don’t know who H is, absolutely not, she’s keeping that in the bag!
‘Who knows? My daughter’s lovely but it could be her, it could be anybody.’
Pointing the finger: It comes as Vicky McClure’s mother has suggested her own daughter’s character Kate Fleming could be the elusive ‘H’
Sharing how she and husband Mick are just as clueless as the rest of the nation, she added: ‘We love it and watch it like everybody else and it will be just as much of a surprise for us. We wouldn’t want to be in a position to know.’
The proud mum added that they were ‘big fans’ of the show and have ‘watched everything’ their daughter has been in. She added that DI Fleming is Vicky’s ‘best role ever.’
The Line Of Duty series six finale airs on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm.
The plot thickens: ‘Who knows? My daughter’s lovely but it could be her, it could be anybody’