Alex Hassell
By Francis Boissier
Let’s be honest, ‘Rivals’ is so ham it’s unbelievably cool 🍖🔥
As the much-anticipated new season hits screens today, we zone in on this smouldering Southend-born vicar’s son. Alex Hassell is bringing back the bad boy. He’s the nation’s favourite guilty pleasure…
“For me, it’s about continuing to push into really complicated material,” Alex tells us. “That’s what everyone is fighting for, the really good, complex stuff.”
AH+ conjures a regal garrett and wardrobe fit for a legendary louche lothario. This Burberry Knight is ready for the fight ⚔️
Styled by David Bradshaw
Interviewed by Ryan Cahill
Alex Hassell wears Burberry
#AlexHassell
#ArenaHommePlus
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#AllKillerNoFiller
The success of Rivals, Disney+’s soapy, addictive, 1980s-set series, is one of the more fascinating entertainment stories of the last 18 months. By the sheer force of its charm, it has brought its originator, Jilly Cooper, the literotica legend who died at the age of 88 last year, to the modern masses, and turned the eat-the-rich TV trend on its head. It’s quite a feat: showrunner Dominic Treadwell-Collins manages to weave silly jokes, ridiculous sex scenes and genuine emotional beats together while burning through plot faster than EastEnders (which he happens to have produced for many years, too). But the show’s success is thanks in no small part to its excellent cast, led by Alex Hassell as the aforementioned MP Rupert Campbell-Black, who finds himself in a will-they-won’t-they relationship with his new neighbour, Taggie O’Hara (Bella MacLean).
Read the interview with the actor, from our weekly film and TV newsletter, Intermission at the link in bio. By culture editor @benappetit1 . Subscribe now.
In this week’s issue of #TheLondonStandard, we talk to Alex Hassell about Rivals, raunch and romance.
The actor says playing lothario Rupert Campbell-Black in the Disney+ adaption of Jilly Cooper’s ‘bonkbuster’ book is helping to heal his bullied teenage self.
Pick up your free copy across London today, or click the link in bio to read the full interview 🗞️
‘In my twenties and thirties it was very painful that my career wasn’t taking off in the way that I wanted it to. I’m extremely grateful for the work I’ve done, but when you’re that age it’s hard to see other people getting work that you’d like to be getting. I thought about giving up a bunch of times. But it has always driven me to keep getting as good as I can get as an actor so that when my opportunities came I wouldn’t f*** them up. And in terms of press attention and stuff, people are much less interested in a 45-year-old married man going to have a coffee or doing a jigsaw, rather than a 25-year-old man getting f***ed up.”
Ahead of the much-anticipated second season of Rivals, in today’s issue of Style, leading man Alex Hassell bares all about playing Rupert Campbell-Black. At the link in bio, he talks to @ScarlettroseRussell about everything from overnight success to (of course) sex scenes.
Alex wears @burberry and @johnsmedleyknitwear .
“I was talking to a casting director in LA the other day and she said she’d watched it six times. And George Clooney apparently rang Hulu [the series’ American streamer] to say they had to make a second season. I think people watch it over and over because they love being in the world with the characters, and that’s the force of Jilly’s writing.”
As Rupert Campbell-Black in the smash hit Rivals, Alex Hassell has found himself an overnight star. So what’s it like to be on the most-loved show of the moment? “It’s genuinely one of the best experiences I’ve had,” he tells @scarlettroserussell this Sunday.
Plus: the singer Rose Gray, the psychotherapist Philippa Perry - and are we all ready for the return of skinny brows? (Answer: possibly not…)
@alexanderhassell
Editor: @stylelaura
Photographer: @jamesanastasiphoto
Stylist: @tonycooky
Grooming: @nadiaaltinbas
Local Production: @townprod
Entertainment Director and words: @scarlettroserussell
Bookings and Creative: @ellarcutt
![“I was talking to a casting director in LA the other day and she said she’d watched it six times. And George Clooney apparently rang Hulu [the series’ American streamer] to say they had to make a second season. I think people watch it over and over because they love being in the world with the characters, and that’s the force of Jilly’s writing.”As Rupert Campbell-Black in the smash hit Rivals, Alex Hassell has found himself an overnight star. So what’s it like to be on the most-loved show of the moment? “It’s genuinely one of the best experiences I’ve had,” he tells @scarlettroserussell this Sunday.Plus: the singer Rose Gray, the psychotherapist Philippa Perry - and are we all ready for the return of skinny brows? (Answer: possibly not…)@alexanderhassellEditor: @stylelauraPhotographer: @jamesanastasiphotoStylist: @tonycookyGrooming: @nadiaaltinbasLocal Production: @townprodEntertainment Director and words: @scarlettroserussellBookings and Creative: @ellarcutt](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6727162661463768524641_0_9f577e03d108419554489bb1c0afe026.jpg?o=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&h=437e031140c233f8e161ca1e4567acb6)
