When Damien Molony said yes to playing the lead role in Bergerac, it never occurred to him that he might become a sex symbol.
The Irish actor, 42, best known for his roles in Being Human and The Split, stars as the titular detective in UKTV's reboot of the BBC's classic crime drama, which first hit screens in the Eighties.
Damien Molony stars as troubled detective Jim Bergerac
It's a role that made John Nettles, the original Jim Bergerac, a TV heartthrob overnight, with one critic describing him as "half man, half nutmeg and all sex god" at the time.
"It never crossed my mind even remotely," Damien tells HELLO!. "Then someone gave me John Nettles's autobiography, and if you ever get a chance to have a look at the front cover, you'll totally get what they mean."
WATCH: The teaser trailer for Bergerac season 2
Thankfully for Damien, the reimagining places a stronger focus on the character as a widowed father, as opposed to John’s perma-tanned hunk.
"That was how the show was pitched to me: not as a cop show, but a series about a grieving dad struggling to fix his relationship with his child," says Damien, who lives in London with his wife, son and daughter. "I didn't need to be sold on anything other than that. I was gung-ho from that point forward."
Bergerac was the highest-rated series on the TV and streaming channel U&Drama last year
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Damien, who was raised in County Kildare, stars alongside Zoë Wanamaker in the detective drama, which was the highest-rated series on the TV and streaming channel U&Drama last year. The show returns with a "rollercoaster of twists and turns" in season two, which began last week.
Here, he reveals the key to balancing his busy career with fatherhood, the phenomenal acting tip he received from Sir Ian McKellen and the importance of embracing imperfection.
Damien, was it daunting to step into John Nettles's shoes?
"There's a world where it could have been. If I'd gone back and watched loads of Bergerac, I feel as though I would have felt the pressure with every episode. But from the start of it, talking to Toby Whithouse, our writer, and Colm McCarthy, our director, I knew it was a new take, so immediately a little bit of the pressure was off.
"Because I deliberately didn't know a huge amount about the original series, I wasn't coming in with preconceptions and ideas to hit certain beats, and I think that was also an opportunity to open it up to a different market."
Do your family get to visit Jersey while you’re filming there?
"Yes, they come out. I love it. Every year, when we're waiting for news of a new series, I feel as though my family are probably more interested in finding out than I am. They have more skin in the game; they love it."
"If I'd gone back and watched loads of Bergerac, I feel as though I would have felt the pressure with every episode. But from the start of it, I knew it was a new take."
Damien stars opposite Zoe Wanamaker as Charlie Hungerford, Adrian Edmondson as Nigel and Chloe Sweetlove as Kim Bergerac
How do you balance your career with fatherhood?
"I obviously make a huge effort to see everyone at the weekends, but it's also about how we communicate that to the family in general, not just the children. It's like: 'These are the parameters, these are the dates and these are the ways we're going to make this work.'
"It's not forever. These jobs are always short in nature, and if we can't spend a huge amount of time together this week, we'll make up for it in the end. Keeping the communication going is key."
You've starred opposite Sir Ian McKellen twice on stage. What was that like?
"We formed a lovely friendship over those two jobs and we're still in touch. He's a great mentor in many ways. When we were doing shows, he would always ask me beforehand: 'What are you going to do to surprise me tonight?' It was a great challenge that I've tried to keep going through my career. Always do something to surprise people."
What sort of things would you both do?
"One time, he told me: 'Today I'm going to do the show as if I've lost my spectacles on stage.' The audience got exactly the same show, but every now and then, Ian was just looking for something, and I had the best seat in the house because I was on stage with him. I was like: 'This is phenomenal.'"
Are there any types of roles that you still want to play?
"I suddenly woke up the other day and was like: 'I want to play a doctor.' My dad is a doctor, but I also think doctors are a little bit like detectives. A patient comes in with something and a doctor says: 'OK, I've got five minutes, let's try to work this out together.'"
What is the biggest lesson you've learnt from your career?
"When I first started out [in theatre], it was like: 'It has to be perfect.' Perfection is an impossibility. Every show that we do doesn't have to be perfect. Every show is just another version.
"I could feel the pressure evaporate when I started to think about work like that. This is today's version; it's going to be different to tomorrow's, and it's going to be different to yesterday's. And that's what makes it exciting."
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