Gary Kemp: 'I like to play someone with an edge'

Gary Kemp: 'I like to play someone with an edge'
Gary Kemp: 'I like to play someone with an edge'

Gary Kemp plays a swinger in next week's episode of Lewis. But he reveals he's nothing like his character... Describe your character, Tom Garland? "Some people will see Tom as sleazy because he's a venture capitalist who's interested in erotic art and likes to swing. He's fairly open about being a swinger; he doesn't see it as being anything too immoral or unethical." How's Tom connected to the case? "Tom is the boss of Nick Addams. Nick and his wife Honey have found their babysitter murdered and it transpires that Tom's done a bit of wife-swapping with Nick and Honey on the evening of the murder." So he's a prime suspect? "For a little while... maybe. Everybody in this show except for Lewis and Hathaway are suspects. Or they're murdered!" Wife-swapping and erotic art aren't very 'Lewis' are they? "This is an intertwining story about ropes, boats and wife-swapping. It shows that there are all kinds of things that go on in the backwaters of Oxford that are very believable." What appealed to you about the role when you read the script? "I quite liked the look of the Jacuzzi, hot-tub and playing tennis. The character is not a big leap for me because he's got a slightly artistic temperament, which I like. A big leap for me would be wife-swapping and foursomes!" You're known for playing dark characters. Do you ever just want to play a nice guy? "Not really, no! It's more interesting playing someone with an edge to them. That's probably why I don't end up playing leads very often - but I'm happy with that." Are you still doing music? "Yes, although Spandau Ballet are on hold again for a bit. We finished a world tour last summer - it was the most successful tour we've ever done and I think we all got on very well considering we were in the High Court at one point!" What's next for you? "I'm lucky, I can do a bit of music, a bit of writing, a bit of acting. The British are a bit weird about people who do more than one job, more so than, say, Americans. So I'm always slightly struggling to convince people I can do it all." *Lewis continues Wednesday at 8pm on ITV1

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.