MARTIN COMPSTON

An Appropriate "Touch of Toughness" Now we are not saying that hunky Scottish gentleman Martin Compston is a carbon copy of the intense roles he plays with so much verve, but not far from it with that Sun in Taurus and Moon in Leo revving up his motor. In fact, most people would hang on to their seat belts at the sight of him whizzing past them on some Los Angeles freeway. Somewhat handsome with the aforementioned "touch of toughness" to his persona, his passionate Leo moon ensures he was also obstinate enough to pursue his showbiz career “to the bone”. The result? Big time popularity and iconic status as a TV cop. His origins are working class; it was important to him to get a good education, and to show others how "different" he was. Blame these ambitions on the determination of a Taurus sun sign plus unadulterated talent. "Overdressed W*****r" From the start "Line Of Duty's" super star Martin Compston ensured his role as Detective Steve Arnott was so convincing one identified with it. His strong presence on screen as the anti-corruption cop, saw a following of 4.1 million viewers in one sitting. Martin plays down his success. He told the Guardian that Steve Arnott is an "overdressed w*****r at work who is having all the office affairs!" W*****r or not, Martin must be optimistic as he starred (for the first 10 minutes) in the BBC’s Vigil; there are also rumours of another series of "Line!" One would expect nothing less from the man! So how did it all begin? Call it the astro, call it destiny, but quite unexpectedly, “Somebody up there loved him”, and he morphed from a rather unsuccessful, Celtic-Obsessed footballer for his home town Greenock Morton, Scotland, into a super talent before you could say, “Where's the red carpet?”. His starring role in Ken Loach's “Sweet Sixteen” ensured the film was a smash hit at the Cannes Film Festival, he became a living legend in his beloved homeland. A super celebrity at a young age, he even got nominated for "The Most Promising Newcomer" at the British Independent Film Awards. Interestingly, he had never acted in his life when he was talent-spotted! “After Sweet Sixteen, I did a lot of indie movies and I was seen as an independent actor, which I love. I’m probably at my happiest on independent productions –but it can be hard to get out of that."

“He morphed from a rather unsuccessful, Celtic-Obsessed footballer for his home town Greenock Morton, Scotland, into a super talent!”

The Band Video When he was a mere, flat-sharing twenty "something" experimenting with his new found talent, fiery Aries in Mercury encouraged him to "get out of all that" by creating a band video; it fell flat. The challenges of a drug fuelled sex addict with blood on his hands proved too OTT for his still somewhat limited fan base. The video was panned by the Glasgow Women's Support project, they called the performance “a cliched, cynical strategy to gain publicity and a chance for selfpromotion” – which was of course what he wanted. At the time he said, “It’s no surprise,“...Unless you’re Coldplay, no bands get their music videos played on the music channels anymore. It’s all Rihanna. So, we said, ‘If videos aren’t being shown, then let’s do something shocking that will get it talked about’.

Left the Bad Reviews Behind Him Being talked about is something, dare one call "our man from the highlands" is more than used to now that he has left the bad reviews behind him. A tried and tested thespian, he stands his ground. Mars in Scorpio might encourage him to get a tad irritated if you try to steal his thunder though; he appears to have an impulsive streak when the mood takes him. In other words do not try to pinch his parking space either! But generally, he is a “Hail Fellow Well Met” kind of bloke. He is probably good at learning his lines, he has naturally organised thoughts and a determined delivery. Kind of moody, with that bright Leo moon shinning right over him, there is a hidden depth, an empathetic soulfulness to him. This sensitivity surfaces in his capacity to get under the skin of a character. It also showed up on a personal level, when showbiz gossip inferred that he and his American wife Tianna Chanel Flynn had struggled with fertility. On a Radio 2 interview he announced that the information had been wrongly assumed and had caused “needless distress” . “Sadly, something so shamefully insensitive and completely without foundation has to [be] called out,” the actor added. This clearly is a guy who will not allow his personal life to be overshadowed by gossip, or showbiz negativity and gossip.

The Stars on His Side

His Sun could be in no other astro house but the tenth. This combo ensures success and honour will continue to be showered upon him. He might have a superstitious side to his thespian nature though, certainly he would not "go public" with it. One could be almost certain he would not wear a purple shirt on location, and definitely honours Lady Luck. Yet deep down he probably knows he manifested his own success with sheer will power and outrageous talent; seeing his name in lights is no coincidence. One could claim the "stars" were on his side and his sensitive soul, strong demeanour and oodles of chutzpah did the rest.