Martin Compston is a Scottish actor and former

professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a profes ...

. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama ''

Line of Duty ''Line of Duty'' is a British police procedural and serial drama television programme created by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It began broadcasting on BBC Two on 26 June 2012. ...

'', Liam in

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

's '' Sweet Sixteen'', Paul Ferris in '' The Wee Man'', Ewan Brodie in '' Monarch of the Glen'', and Dan Docherty in '' The Nest''.

Early life and education

Born to a Catholic family, Martin Compston, the younger of two brothers, was brought up in

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

, Scotland, and attended St Columba's High School in neighbouring

Gourock Gourock ( ; ) is a town in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a resort town, seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its ma ...

Football career

A promising

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, he was a youth player with

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

as a teenager, and after leaving school signed for his local professional club Greenock Morton. Compston made two first-team appearances in the 2001–02 season, in which the team was relegated to the Third Division. In both matches he appeared as a substitute and Morton lost 4–0, to

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They compete in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. According to the official club hist ...

and Queen of the South. After leaving Morton, he briefly played in junior football for Greenock Juniors.

Acting career

Having never acted before, Compston successfully auditioned for the lead role in

's '' Sweet Sixteen'', which was being filmed locally. The film's success at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

gave him instant celebrity status in Scotland. Both he and his co-star William Ruane were nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports, and promotes British independent cinema and film-making talent in the United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early Nov ...

, with Compston winning the category. He had a regular role in the BBC TV serial '' Monarch of the Glen''. He then appeared in three films: '' A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints'' (Jury Prize and Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Festival) with

Robert Downey, Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965), also known as RDJ, is an American actor. One of the highest-grossing actors of all time, his films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide. In 2008, Downey was named by ''Time ...

; '' Red Road'' (Jury Prize at Cannes), shot in Scotland with Kate Dickie and

Tony Curran Tony Curran is a Scottish actor who has appeared in the film '' Underworld: Evolution'' (2006), the television series ''Doctor Who'' (2010), the miniseries ''Roots'' (2016), and the Netflix historical drama film ''Outlaw King'' (2018). He appear ...

, for which he was nominated as Best Supporting Actor at the Scottish BAFTAs; and ''

True North True north is the direction along Earth's surface towards the place where the imaginary rotational axis of the Earth intersects the surface of the Earth on its Northern Hemisphere, northern half, the True North Pole. True south is the direction ...

'' with

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. His credits include '' Riff-Raff'' (1991), '' Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Braveheart'' (1995), '' Trainspotting'' (1996), '' My Name Is Joe'' (1998), '' The Claim'' (2000), '' Neds'' ( ...

and Gary Lewis, for which he was nominated as Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards. Compston starred in the 2010 film '' Soulboy'', alongside

Craig Parkinson Craig Parkinson (born 11 March 1976) is an English actor and podcaster. He has played Shaun in the E4 series '' Misfits'', twins Jimmy and Johnny Kray in the ITV series ''Whitechapel'', and DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan in ''Line of Duty''. He has a ...

, playing the role of Joe McCain. He also made a cameo appearance in a low-budget web series, ''Night is Day''. Compston appeared in

The View ''The View'' is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. , in its 28th season, the show has aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC as part of the network's ABC Daytime, daytime programming block since August ...

's music video for "Grace" and " How Long". In 2012, Compston starred in the lead role of Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott, a detective on an anti-corruption squad, in the BBC police drama ''

'', acting alongside

once more. In the same year, he also starred in the violent thriller ''Piggy''. Going back to his Scottish roots, he then appeared in the lead role in '' The Wee Man'', directed by

Ray Burdis Ray Burdis (born 23 August 1958 in London) is an English actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. Biography Burdis started acting at eleven years old when he attended drama school and trained at the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington, G ...

, a film depicting the life of the Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris. It was released in the UK in January 2013. In April 2013, Compston starred in the ITV miniseries '' The Ice Cream Girls''. He appeared as Roy James in '' The Great Train Robbery''. In 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021, Compston reprised his lead role of Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott in five more series of police drama ''Line of Duty'', which moved from BBC Two to BBC One at the start of its fourth series. In 2016, he starred in the three-part Scottish television series ''In Plain Sight'' as serial murderer

Peter Manuel Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel (13 March 1927 – 11 July 1958) was an American-Scottish serial killer who was convicted of murdering seven people across Lanarkshire and southern Scotland between 1956 and his arrest in January 1958, and is believ ...

. In 2020, he starred alongside

Sophie Rundle Sophie Rundle (born 21 April 1988) is an English actress. Her television roles include portraying Ada Thorne in ''Peaky Blinders'', Ann Walker in '' Gentleman Jack'', Vicky Budd in ''Bodyguard'', code-breaker Lucy in ''The Bletchley Circle'', L ...

in the television series ''The Nest''. In 2021, Compston was cast to star as Fulmer Hamilton in the

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

thriller '' The Rig'', which was released in January 2023. In March 2022, Compston starred in ''Our House''. The drama series is based on the novel ''Our House'' by Louise Candlish.

Personal life

Compston married American actress Tianna Chanel Flynn in 2016. They have a son. Compston is a supporter of

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

and the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Compston, Martin 1984 births Living people Actors from Greenock Male actors from Inverclyde Scottish men's footballers Aberdeen F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish male television actors Scottish male film actors Scottish Football League players Men's association football midfielders Scottish Junior Football Association players Greenock Juniors F.C. players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen