'Dirt' star Ian Hart

Ian Hart has never shied away from the big roles. He portrayed one of rock's most enduring icons when he starred as John Lennon in Backbeat, brought one of literature's most famous sleuths to life in the BBC’s Sherlock Holmes adventures and now he's taking on the role of Don Konkey, a schizophrenic paparazzo, in Five US's high-profile drama series Dirt. That’s right, Ian's nabbed himself a role in the show featuring that leztastic kiss between Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston. We caught up with the loquacious Liverpudlian to discuss Dirt, what it’s like to work with Courteney Cox and what's going wrong in the British film industry.

What attracted you to Dirt?
"Good question. I don't know - you've got me there completely. It's a hybrid show in a way, because it has elements of so many different bits and pieces. You could say it has the bombastic nature of Dallas or Dynasty, but in other ways it's a far more seedy, low-life, lowly sort of morally dubious show, if you know what I mean. You can do things for very different reasons - you might do a part that you don't think is absolutely fantastic, but the nature of the project says something to you, or sometimes you find it's the other way around. I liked my Dirt character so much I didn't pay that much attention to what was going on around me."

What do find so appealing about Don Konkey, your character in the show?
"He's stronger than many characters like that. Schizophrenic paparazzi, you know, they're not in every script."

Is it hard to get inside the head of a character who's schizophrenic?
"Most of the time, it depends on the variable degrees and scale. I'm not a doctor and I'm not qualified to speak on the subject extensively, but do you know what I mean? 'Schizophrenic' is a very loose descriptive - it can cover a multitude of sins. You look at the script and think about what the the writers are trying to get out of the character. You ask yourself: 'What is his purpose and function within that format in terms of conveying something?'"

Can you relate to Don at all?
"He's not much different from me. We all talk to ourselves; we just don't vocalise it. There are many aspects I can relate to - we spend most of our time as human beings talking about what's going on inside of us."

What was it like to work with Courteney Cox?
"Oh, she's a pleasure and a good laugh."

As someone who experienced a decade of huge success on Friends, did she ever show any diva tendencies on set?
"No, I think she just got on with everyone. Since I met her - I didn't know her before, you know - she's only been herself. She's had to demand a lot of herself for the role, and she's done it."

Did you watch her film that infamous kissing scene with Jennifer Aniston?
"No, nobody was in that day. I was talking with them in the caravan before they went off to do it, but no, I didn't go and watch. I had my own stuff to get on with."

What was the atmosphere like on set that day? Was everyone excited?
"Yeah, of course. You know, Jennifer Aniston's on the cover of every magazine in the world. If you went to the newsagents now she'd be on the cover of three of them. And you know, she's a gigantic celebrity, so we were very excited."

Is it much more glamorous to shoot a show in the US than in the UK? Are there many differences
"I don't think very much, quite frankly. I think at the end of the day, you're made aware of the many, many factors that come into play. In the US you make a pilot, whereas in England we tend not to make pilots. We commission the show or we don't commission the show - that commercial decision has been removed. In the States you make a pilot and then you have a committee of many, many people - all of whom have a vested interest and know what might make a hit show - working towards maximising audience potential. Whereas you tend in the UK - well, I've never been aware of it - not to be made aware of whether people will want to advertise when your show's on. The director doesn't make you feel aware of that; the writers don't make you feel aware of that and you're not aware of that being a major dynamic as to whether or not people are going to advertise or not."

What can we expect from you in the future?
"Another series of Dirt? Will it be here in five years? Who knows at this stage? I'd like to do some more work in Britain, actually. When you go back a couple of years ago, we were making a lot more films in this country than we are today. It's not like we've got a British film in the cinema every month - if you do a review at the end of the year, you'll maybe come up with five British films. They're still desperately trying to get money together to make films - most things take two years to get made, you know what I mean? There was a brief moment in time - and I was fortunate to be working during that time - when we used to make films quite regularly in this country, and lots of new guys would get opportunities to make their first feature. Now it seems impossible. Unless Brad Pitt's in it, you won't get financed."

What do you think the problem with the British film industry is?
"It's about how we view British films. We don't watch British films; we'd rather see American films. If we made a British Die Hard, set in Sheffield, with all the same action and filmed the same way as Die Hard, we still wouldn't go and see it. We'd still go and see Die Hard. We wouldn't go and see, say, a film called 'Sheffield Steel', even if it was a verbatim, shot for shot version of Dire Hard and Die Hard didn't exist. So do you know what I mean? We are to blame ourselves in a way."

That's a bit depressing...
"Yeah, but you rang, not me!"

Dirt begins on July 9 at 9pm on Five US.