ABSTRACT THINKING

While the acting world is on shut down Alresford’s James Murray can be found painting in his home studio

- Duncan Hall

When James Murray speaks to a self-isolating Hampshire Life on the phone, it’s not long after receiving a call from his agent.

“There isn’t a television or film set or theatre in the world that is working at the moment,” says the actor, who was last seen playing chief superintendent John Houseman in ITV police drama McDonald and Dodds. “I was told I’d got some time to figure out what I want to do next.”

Luckily for Jim he has something to fill the void – a love of painting, which was rekindled ten years ago. “I started painting at school,” he says from his home near Alresford. “It was something I enjoyed as a teenager – but at school it was frowned upon and considered a secondary subject.”

After studying scriptwriting and directing at university, Manchester-born Jim went to drama school and became a professional actor. His most memorable screen roles include his breakthrough as Vera Duckworth’s eye-candy cellarman Sandy Hunter in Coronation Street, the psychopathic Daniel in Russell T Davies’ Channel Four series Cucumber and lead roles in BBC dramas Age Before Beauty and the fourth series of Cutting It, alongside future wife Sarah Parish.

But it was talking to fellow actor Connor McIntyre which inspired Jim, now 45, to return to his canvas. “He was extolling its virtues as a great way to use your time, both when you’re between jobs and on a job,” says Jim, who started painting again at home as a hobby.