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Martin Compston

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Martin Compston
Born (1984-05-08) 8 May 1984 (age 40)
OccupationActor
Years active2002–present

Martin Compston (born 8 May 1984) is a Scottish actor and former professional footballer. He is perhaps most notable for his role as Liam in Sweet Sixteen, for his role as Ewan Brodie in Monarch of the Glen, and for his lead role in the popular crime show Line of Duty.

Biography

Compston was born and brought up in Greenock, Inverclyde, and attended St. Columba's High School in neighbouring Gourock. A youth footballer, after leaving school he signed for local professional team Greenock Morton.[1]

Compston made two appearances for Morton at the end of the 2001–2002 season, in which the 'Ton were relegated from the Scottish Football League First Division. In both matches he appeared as a substitute, and both times Morton lost 4–0, to Alloa Athletic and Queen of the South.

Having never acted before, he successfully auditioned for the lead role in Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen, which was being filmed locally. The film's success at the Cannes Film Festival gave him instant celebrity status in Scotland. His subsequent film career was comparatively low key as he wanted to "serve his apprenticeship" with a regular role in the BBC TV drama serial Monarch of the Glen. He then appeared in three films: A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (Jury Prize and Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Festival) with Robert Downey, Jr.; Red Road (Jury Prize at Cannes), shot in Scotland with Kate Dickie and Tony Curran, for which he was nominated Best Supporting Actor at the Scottish BAFTAs; and True North with Peter Mullan and Gary Lewis, for which he was nominated as Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards.

Compston made a cameo appearance in small budget web series "Night Is Day". He also reportedly auditioned for the role of Scotty in the new Star Trek film, but the role ultimately went to Simon Pegg. His next role was in the 2010 film Soulboy.[2] He also appeared in the horror film The 4th Reich as Pte. Newman.

Compston appeared in The View's music video for "Grace".

In June–July 2012, Compston starred in the BBC police drama Line of Duty. The show has been confirmed for a second series.[3]

In 2012 Compston also starred in the violent thriller Piggy.[4] Back to his Scottish roots, he then appeared in the lead role in The Wee Man, directed by Ray Burdis, a film depicting the life of renowned Glasgow Gangster Paul Ferris.[5] It was released in the UK in January 2013.

In April 2013 Compston starred in the ITV mini-series The Ice Cream Girls.[6]

Compston will be appearing as Roy James in the upcoming BBC One two-part drama marking the 50th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery.[7]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
2002 Sweet Sixteen Liam
2003 Monarch of the Glen Ewan Brodie 20 episodes between 2003 and 2005
The Royal Jeffrey Carpenter one episode, "Snakes and Ladders"
2004 Næsland Jed
Casualty (TV series) Matty Howell one episode, "Lock Down"
2005 Tickets Jamesy
Wild Country Lee
2006 A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Mike O'Shea
Red Road Stevie
2007 True North Seán
Night is Day Head Gangster one episode, "Sacrifices"
2008 Doomsday Joshua
Red Mist Sean also known as "Freakdog"
2009 The Damned United John O'Hare
The Disappearance of Alice Creed Danny
2010 Pimp Zeb
Soulboy Joe McCain
2011 7lives Rory
Hit and Run Daz
Ghosted Paul
Four Lover
How to Stop Being a Loser Adam
2012 Strippers vs Werewolves Shaniqua
Sister Mike
Line of Duty Steve Arnott five episodes
Piggy Joe
2013 The Wee Man Paul Ferris
The Ice Cream Girls Mr Halnsley

References

  1. ^ "Films - interview - Martin Compston". BBC. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  2. ^ Cath Clarke. "How Martin Compston shimmied from football to films | Film". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  3. ^ Janice Hadlow, Controller, BBC Two (25 July 2012). "Media Centre - Line Of Duty to return for second series". BBC. Retrieved 4 July 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Martin Compston opens heart about love split and death of beloved gran". Daily Record. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  5. ^ Black, Claire (13 January 2013). "Interview: Martin Compston talks about his new film The Wee Man - Scotland". Scotsman.com. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
  6. ^ By JAMES RAMPTON Published on 15/04/2013 18:02 (15 April 2013). "Actor Martin Compston makes waves as leading man - Scotland". Scotsman.com. Retrieved 4 July 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Wednesday, Monkey (6 March 2013). "Martin Compston to play great train robber in BBC1 drama | Media Monkey | Media | guardian.co.uk". Guardian. Retrieved 4 July 2013.

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