Martin Compston (born 8 May 1984) 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 professi ...

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

Line of Duty ''Line of Duty'' is a British police procedural television series created by Jed Mercurio and produced by World Productions. On 26 June 2012, BBC Two began to broadcast the first series; it was its best-performing drama series in ten years wit ...

'', Liam in Ken Loach's '' Sweet Sixteen'',

Paul Ferris Paul Ferris may refer to: * Paul Ferris (composer) (1941–1995), English film composer * Paul Ferris (footballer) (born 1965), Northern Irish former footballer and now physiotherapist * Paul Ferris (Scottish writer) (born 1963), Scottish writer and ...

in ''

The Wee Man ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'', Ewan Brodie in '' Monarch of the Glen'' and Dan Docherty in '' The Nest''.

Early life and football career

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

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

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

Gourock Gourock ( ; gd, Guireag ) is a town in the Inverclyde council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its main function today is as a r ...

. 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 le ...

, he was a youth player with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

as a teenager, and after leaving school signed for his local professional club

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

. 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. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

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

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...

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

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

gave him instant celebrity status in Scotland. Both he and his co-star

William Ruane William Ruane (born 1985) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Sweet Sixteen'' (2002) and '' The Angels' Share'' (2012), and in the soap opera ''River City''. Career Ruane was born in Glasgow and raised in the ...

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 filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, ...

, 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 ''A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints'' is a 2006 American drama film based on a 2001 memoir of the same name by author, director, and musician Dito Montiel, which describes his youth in Astoria, New York during the 1980s. Montiel wrote and directed ...

'' (Jury Prize and Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Festival) with

Robert Downey, Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

; ''

Red Road Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'' (Jury Prize at Cannes), shot in Scotland with

Kate Dickie Kate Dickie (born 1971) is a Scottish actress who has appeared in television series, stage plays and films. She is known for her television roles as Lex in the BBC series '' Tinsel Town'' (2000–2001) and Lysa Arryn in the HBO series '' Game ...

and

Tony Curran Tony Curran is a Scottish actor who has appeared in '' Underworld: Evolution'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Roots'', and the Netflix historical epic ''Outlaw King''. He appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) as Bor ...

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

True North True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole. Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward the ...

'' with

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all thr ...

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

Soulboy Soulboys (sometimes spelled soul boys) were a working class English youth subculture of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and fans of American soul and funk music. The subculture emerged in North-West England as northern soul event attendees began ...

'', alongside

Craig Parkinson Craig Parkinson (born 11 March 1976) is an English actor and podcaster. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Shaun in the E4 series ''Misfits'', twins Jimmy and Johnny Kray in the ITV series ''Whitechapel'', and DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan in ...

, 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'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 ''

'', 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, Great ...

, a film depicting the life of the Glasgow gangster

. It was released in the UK in January 2013. In April 2013, Compston starred in the ITV miniseries ''

The Ice Cream Girls ''The Ice Cream Girls'' is a three-part British television crime drama, first broadcast in 2013, based on the bestselling novel by Dorothy Koomson. The story follows two vulnerable teenage girls, Serena Gorringe (Lorraine Burroughs) and Poppy Ca ...

''. 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 a Scottish-American serial killer who was convicted of murdering seven people across Lanarkshire and southern Scotland between 1956 and his arrest in January 1958, and is believed ...

. In 2020, he starred alongside

Sophie Rundle Sophie Rundle (born 21 April 1988) is an English actress, best known for portraying Ada Thorne in the BBC One historical crime drama television series ''Peaky Blinders'', Ann Walker in BBC One and HBO's period drama '' Gentleman Jack'', Vicky B ...

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

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

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. As of 2020, they reside in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. In June 2022, Compston was forced to deny allegations of singing sectarian lyrics, after videos surfaced on social media of him on stage during a Celtic FC supporter function in Las Vegas. Compston is a supporter of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Compston, Martin 1984 births Living people People from Greenock Scottish footballers Aberdeen F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish male television actors Scottish male film actors Scottish Football League players Association football midfielders Scottish Junior Football Association players Greenock Juniors F.C. players