Adrian Dunbar has revealed has glad his fame didn't come in his younger years as he feels better equipped to deal with it now.
The Line of Duty star, 64, is set to play his first title role as he stars in ITV's detective drama set to air later in the year titled Ridley.
And he believes that being older is helping him be in a better place to best represent a role as he has "learnt how to make the part work".
Adrian made his name by playing Ted Hastings on Line of Duty and was predicted by some as being the infamous 'H'. However, as the last series ended, DS Ian Buckells (Nigel Boyle) was unmasked as the culprit and Adrian told the Radio Times it would have been "nonsense" for his character to be the crime boss.
With many fans chomping at the bit for another series, Adrian seemingly left the door ajar as he told the publication he feels there is still plenty left in the story and cast doubt over whether Buckells was actually H.
His rise to super stardom came as the show doubled its audience since launching in 2017, with around 10 million people taking in the last episodes.
The Northern Irishman also admitted he sometimes chats to Line of Duty co-stars Martin Compston and Vicky McClure about the show returning.
Co-star Martin had recently confessed he was desperate for the sixth series of the hit show to end as he struggled with the build up to the final release.
Speaking on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware, Martin confessed: "It started during the end of lockdown, I think there was two episodes in lockdown, but the build up was just too much.
"By that point we had everybody hooked which was great but by the last episode I was desperate for it to end. It was too much. It is intense.
Before portraying Hastings on the show, Adrian had worked on films such as The Crying Game and Ashes to Ashes, while he also starred on TV's Broken. His latest role sees him play an ex-detective who is also a singer in nightclubs.
He requested the latter was added into his character's story as he was once a member of a three-piece band.
