Alex Hassell has heard the criticism before. When he was cast as Rupert Campbell-Black in Jilly Cooper’s Rivals, some fans complained that he did not look like the man described in the books. But as the show returned and he spoke to Radio Times with co-star Bella Maclean, Hassell said the producers saw something in him they believed fit the role.
“I guess the producers thought there was some innate Rupert-ness that I could capture, and Jilly’s endorsement made me feel more confident,” Hassell said. He added that he was initially intimidated by the idea of reading scenes in which Rupert walks into a room and everyone swoons. “Rupert is supposed to look statuesque and heroic, so I do my best with a trainer. I don’t do any silly diets – I think it’s dangerous to set those standards for young men,” he said.
That pressure is part of the deal for a character who is meant to carry the swagger of Cooper’s world, and Hassell said he tries to meet it without turning the preparation into a punishment. He said the routine is straightforward and not built around extremes, even if the expectations around Rupert are. The role has also meant repeated encounters with one of the stranger parts of screen acting: seeing himself in sex scenes in front of a crowd. “The weirdness of watching yourself simulate sex, especially at a screening with 200 people, has not diminished!” he said.
Hassell did not try to turn that into a complaint. “But it’s important to remember that sex can and should be fun, and a lot of the sex in Rivals is fun,” he said. That matches the tone of the drama itself, which sets its story in the glamorous and ridiculous social world of the 1980s and leans into excess rather than restraint. Bella Maclean said part of that appeal comes from the way the costume and styling do so much of the work for her as Taggie. “Taggie’s make-up is simple and I don’t have to wear a wig and I like her cowboy boots and Levi’s, they get me into character as much as big shoulder pads would,” she said. “The cigarettes on the show are fake, so if I had to sit in a pub with everyone smoking around me, I might have a different opinion, but everything feels so glamorous and ridiculous.”
For Hassell, one of the standout moments in series two is the Rupert dance scene to The Chicken Song. “That’s one of my favourites,” he said. “What’s really fun about that scene is that The Chicken Song was originally sung by Emily Atack’s mum, and she’s in the scene. She gropes me on the dance floor!” The scene plays to the show’s fondness for spectacle, and to Hassell’s own willingness to enjoy how far the material pushes things. He said that part of his job is simply to commit to it and have fun while pretending to be the most desirable man in the room.
He also spoke about where he came from, and the distance between that upbringing and the world of Cooper’s novels. “I was in a little village in Essex and my dad was a vicar,” he said. “I was riding a BMX with my friends and going to a lot of church fêtes.” It is a quieter origin story than Rupert’s grand arrival in a room, but it helps explain why Hassell sounds so amused by the scale of the part now attached to him. The casting debate is no longer the main story. Rivals has returned, Hassell has the role, and series two is already giving him scenes viewers are likely to remember, whether they came in expecting Rupert Campbell-Black or not.
