FITTING THE BILL (9/6/04)

From manchesteronline.co.uk:

ON screen, Scott Maslen is brooding hard man Phil Hunter in The Bill  - the decidedly dodgy copper with very dapper dress sense. Off screen, the 32-year-old's life seems just as exciting.

Last year, the former model won the Best Dressed Man award and he's good friends with Hollywood star Orlando Bloom. But the actor insists he doesn't have a glamorous lifestyle.

"I'm a family man," says Scott, talking warmly about his girlfriend, Estelle, and their three-year-old son, Zak.

"That's all I do when I'm not working. I'm not really showbizzy at all. I've been to a couple of premieres of films recently, but I don't go out and do the circuit.

"We will get married eventually, definitely, I'm sure. It's just we are married as far as we're concerned.

"We've been living together for so long and we have a kid together."

In his two years playing Hunter, Scott has become an integral part of the action at Sun Hill.

For the past few months, he's been filming the build-up to Hunter's final confrontation with his nemesis - boxing promoter and small-time gangster Dennis Weaver, played by Jonathan Lindsay.

For a long time, the two men were useful to each other, swapping information that helped each of them further their own interests.

Then, six months ago, Hunter's wife, Cindy, discovered her husband had an affair with Weaver's wife.

Devastated, she told Weaver, and Hunter's best contact became his worst enemy. To make things worse, Weaver then found out the daughter he thought was his was actually Hunter's.

"Weaver would have killed Hunter straight away, but he's got too many ties with him," explains Scott.

"He had to keep him alive until all the business stuff was taken care of. But even though he's trying to deal with it on a business level, he then loses the plot.

Crazy

"That's when it starts getting real fun to play, because he's a crazy guy. John, who plays him, is massive as well. When you've got someone like that wanting to rip you limb from limb it's a bit scary."

Tonight's episode sees the last showdown between the two men, with Hunter being shot in the leg.

Despite her intense dislike of Hunter, Det Sgt Samantha Nixon (Lisa Maxwell) helps him escape before a chase in disused underground tunnels.

"It's great, because the two people from Sun Hill who hate each other the most have to help each other in this grave situation," says Scott.

"Phil is losing blood and there's this intensity between him and Sam. They end up in these little sub tunnels and get lost."

Scott says the prosthetics department "went to town" on his gunshot wound, going for maximum gore.

And while hard man Hunter deals with his bleeding leg with admirable bravery, Scott was less heroic when faced with the sight of blood.

"It made me feel a bit queasy," he admits. "It was funny, because when they were putting it on I was on a trolley and I fell asleep. It was like I passed out.

"When I woke up I looked down and had one of those moments where I was like, 'Aargh'. But then I remembered it was fake."

Whether Hunter survives to dodge and deal another day is a foregone conclusion - Scott has just signed for another year on The Bill, ensuring a positive outcome for his character.

But just how he escapes Weaver's clutches is shrouded in mystery.

"They do like to put Hunter through the mill," laughs Scott.

"I try to encourage them to do that as well, because it's fun. And this is Hunter's most action-packed storyline yet."

The Bill is on ITV1 tonight at 8pm.