The hard man who cries

ROSS Kemp's hard man appearance doesn't exactly invite you to ask difficult questions. He may be perfectly polite and even smile from time to time, but he still looks like he'd eat you for breakfast rather than give much away about himself.

Being married to the editor of a top-selling tabloid, he must have learnt a trick or two about dealing with journalistic inquiries he'd rather avoid. But there is one he can't dodge - is he returning to EastEnders, the BBC1 soap where he spent ten years as gruff, growling Grant Mitchell before leaving Albert Square for a golden handcuffs deal with ITV?

So, has he had a call from the producers of the soap, generally recognised as going through a bad patch, to come to their rescue? No comes the emphatic answer. "I am really happy," he declares. "I'm halfway through the third series of Ultimate Force. A lot more money is being thrown at it and I think it will be the best of the three series. It's the only action show on British television at the moment, and has been for quite a long time. People say its FHM television but I'm quite proud because there's nothing like it."

He won't rule out going back to EastEnders although he grew tired of playing one character for ten years. "But never say never. It was good to me," he adds.

Just as he won't be drawn on a Walford return, he won't comment on the current state of the soap which suffered poor ratings and criticism of storylines in recent months. "I never watch it," he says. "It would be wrong to criticise. It's up and down like all soaps. There's tremendous pressure on the actors. It was pretty tough when I was there doing three episodes a week. Now they do more."

What has brought the usually publicity-shy Kemp out to talk to the press is A Line In The Sand, a two-part drama based on Gerald Seymour's bestselling novel about the Middle East and terrorism. Made in 2001, the drama was deemed too sensitive to screen in the wake of the September 11 attacks and has sat on the shelf at ITV for three years.

Kemp is careful not to criticise ITV's decision, going no further than agreeing it wouldn't have been right to put it out the week after September 11.

"I was working so I was moving on to the next job," he says. "But there's no point doing two-and-a-half months on something and no-one gets to see it. It got to the point where we thought it would never see the light of day. You would have to ask the powers-that-be why they have decided to do it now."

He thinks the series stands up after three years, pointing out that the production values are good. If it had been made today, less money would have been spent as there have been budget cutbacks because of falling advertising revenues. Not that he's having a go at anyone. "It's the way it comes and goes at the moment. I am still happy doing what I am doing," he says.

He had a taste of big budget filming on a remake of Spartacus for one of the major US TV networks. His role, as a gladiator trainer, is not that big as the character dies on page 60 of a 240 page script. "For me, it was an eye-opener the amount of money that was spent," he says, making you wonder if TV finances aren't his specialist subject.

Kemp, an unknown quantity on the other side of the Atlantic, followed up Spartacus by visiting Los Angeles. "I went over there and met some casting directors. They haven't got a clue what I do and where I am from," he admits. "It's like going back and starting again. I don't mind doing that. If the work came I would do it."

He widened his horizons - and surprised a good few people too - by touring regional theatres as woman-hating Petruchio in a production of Shakespeare's Taming Of The Shrew. The experience left him wanting to do more stage work.

Since leaving drama school, he's worked predominantly in TV but it was his small screen fame that attracted audiences into the Shakespeare show. "A lot of people came to the theatre that would never go to Shakespeare, a new generation of theatregoers. That was part of my brief, I suppose," he says.

A Line In The Sand offers a less action man role for Kemp. Family man Gavin Hughes sells agricultural machinery to Middle Eastern countries, who use it as part of their weaponry programme. MI6 "persuade" Hughes to supply them with the information and then give him a new identity to help him avoid repercussions from those he's betrayed. Years later his past catches up with him.

"At the end you won't be laughing in the aisles. There's not a happy ending. I'm not famous for my happy endings," he says.

The series offers one view of Kemp not often seen: he cries. This is not quite an event as notable as the moment silent star Greta Garbo spoke on screen, but one can't imagine hard man Grant snivelling.

"That's what I get paid for," he says, making light of such emotional scenes. And yes, he can cry on cue, something he did as a child. "I'd cry to get what I wanted but my parents soon saw through it," he says.

He's the first one to criticise his performances. "I'm highly critical of myself," he admits. "I'm not a great lover of watching myself. You always think you can do it better."

He may end up working behind the scenes. He's trying his hand at writing, part of a move towards that side of the camera. "Maybe as a producer and work on scripts I think are good and help see them through from the beginning to the end," he says.

He's reconciled himself that banishing thoughts of Grant Mitchell from the people's minds may never happen. "When you play a character that's so much in the public eye for a period of time, you are never going to shed that," he says.

"Anyone who has played a popular character gets the same. David Jason is an amazing actor, he's played a wide range of characters, but I'm sure people call him Del Boy when he's walking down the road. I'm happy to be working and to be paid".

There we go again, mentioning money. But Kemp can boast of only being out of work for seven months since leaving drama school in 1975. He's says he's some dreadful jobs, including a commercial for a breakfast cereal. He was close to giving up acting at the time.

"I went in for this commercial - can you do this, can you do that, can you look stupid? Yes, for £14,000 for two days work. In 1987 that was a lot of money," he says. "So b***ocks if anyone wants to take the p**s out of me. They can. If it hadn't been for that I would not be here talking to you because it got me through a year, saved me from giving up virtually and getting a proper job."

* A Line In The Sand is on ITV1 on Monday and Tuesday at 9pm.