Martin Compston admits he got ‘really upset with himself’ in Amazon Prime thriller

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‘When I got back to the trailer I went, “I’m done. I’m done with this job,” Martin Compston recalls to Metro while filming Amazon Prime Video thriller Fear.

In it, he plays Martyn whose hopes for a fresh start in Glasgow with his wife Rebecca (Anjli Mohindra) become an impossible reality when a neighbour accuses them of crimes that are every parent’s worst nightmare.

As you can gather, the three-parter psychological drama deals with the darkest subject material and no one felt it more keenly than the Line of Duty actor, 40.

‘My last scenes were emotional and I was like, I have nothing left, I really have nothing left,’ Compston remembers as we speak over Zoom.

‘At first, I got really upset with myself and went back to my trailer and went “I f***ed that up.” But then I realised it was because I had nothing left. I had given it everything I had. I had rung every little last emotion out.

‘We had been shooting for seven hours but it’s still a mad feeling when I felt I couldn’t access [the right emotions] for that last take. I’m really proud of that scene now when it comes together.’

Martin Compston said he was emotionally spent after one scene in Fear (Picture: Katelyn Mensah)

It’s no wonder Compston was emotionally spent when Fear examines the fallout between two previously happy, go-getting parents who are pushed to their absolute extremes. As everyone knows, other people’s children are off-limits.

The Rig actor, who has one son with his wife Tianna Chanel Flynn, said being a parent helped him access a different depth to the character. ‘Being a parent helped as you can sympathise with the situation,’ he explains. ‘

‘You can imagine if it happened to you: I was thinking I could have done similar things to [Martyn] but you don’t know until you’re in that situation. If you’re throwing the grenades that are being thrown here, it’s easy to see how things could spiral.’

Time off from filming the heavy Fear, though, was an entirely different story. It was filmed in Compston’s home country, Scotland, and he relished in acting as a ‘tour guide’ for the cast and crew with help from his Line of Duty co-star Vicky McClure.

Compston dashed hopes of Line of Duty season 7 landing anytime soon (Picture: BBC/World Productions/Steffan Hill)

McClure was in town to host her day-time clubbing event Day Fever, yet another example of her ‘world domination’ Compston says. He took the Fear team to rave and it was, as you would expect, ‘wonderful.’

As for Line Of Duty – it is practically the law now to ask any cast members if season 7 is happening – nothing is in the works, according to Compston.

That is despite Christina Chong, who starred as DI Nicky Rogerson in the BBC drama, appearing to have let slip that she had been ‘asked’ back to show earlier this month.

Martin insists: ‘Nothing’s happening. I mean, I’m about to start my new ITV job, which is going to take up most of my year. I think Vicky’s doing Trigger Point back to back. So, unfortunately, there’s nothing happening for a long time.

Compston said Monarch of the Glen would need to start ‘afresh’ if it was rebooted (Picture: Ecosse)

‘We’re all quite aware of not getting fans’ hopes up too much because every week there’s something about Line Of Duty definitely coming back and there’s nothing happening anytime soon.’

Perhaps it’s time to change tack and ask Compston about a reboot of another of his former beloved shows, Monarch of the Glen, which now appears to have been lost to the archives.

Could the BBC drama be brought back to life? ‘I had such a wonderful time but I think it would probably be best left,’ Compston concedes.

‘It would be lovely to see some iteration of it, but I think it would be better to start afresh and maybe have the odd cameo from the team.’

All hope is not lost then…

Fear is coming to Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday, March 4.

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