The Works TV April 2007 by David Richardson

It's something of a shock to meet JJ Feild in modern gear; after all, he's often seen playing romantic characters in stories set in Victorian or Edwardian England. His role as Henry Tilney in Northanger Abbey keeps with that tradition: a handsome mild-mannered vicar who falls for fantasist Catherine Moreland (Felicity Jones).

This is your fourth costume drama on TV in the past year. Have you cornered the market in them?

My sideburns have an agent and I go where they are booked. I did The Secret Life Of Mrs Beeton with Jon Jones who directed this, then did the Philip Pullmans (The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North) with Billie Piper, and then Jon asked me back to do Northanger Abbey.

Is it just coincidence that yourself and Billie have starred in the Sally Lockheart films and this?

Total coincidence. So we can engage in friendly rivalry and watch the viewing figures.

What did you know of Jane Austen before you got the script?

Absolutely nothing. I hadn't read any Austen since O-levels. Jon sent me the novel and I was amazed how easy it was to read. When you're young and you read classical text you think it's frightening. I was amazed at what a page turner it was.

Did you do any of your own stunts on this?

I had some sword-fighting, which was kind of doing a jig in a highly cow-patted field in a rainstorm. It was a very long fight that we rehearsed for a month and then you go and try to shoot it on a hillside in Wicklow. And I think it has been cut down to about five seconds.

I also did lots of horse riding. I've ridden all my life, which is lucky, but I have been told off already by the editor that my heels were not down far enough, apparently. My horse did bolt and took me miles off. Apparently it doesn't like the word "action", which is a bit unfortunate for a stunt horse. So they get the clapperboard and stop it really gently and say (whispers), "Go!". But it took a couple of times for them to figure that out.

Any other stories from the filming in Ireland?

We were up against the weather but they made it look amazing. We were in the middle of summer and it rained for six weeks non-stop.

What are you working on right now?

I'm just opening a film in the States called O Jerusalem, which is about the creation of Israel and Palestine in 1948 with Ian Holm and Tom Conti. Ther's this New York business guy and Arab friend who end up on either sides of the buffer zone and they are played by me and a guy called Said Taghmaoui.

Are you tempted to go off and work in LA?

Who knows? I do spend a lot of time there. I was born in America, in Colorado, so I am the only English actor who doesn't have to marry someone to work there, but I just tend to follow the good scripts. I was in America when this stuff came up and I was straight on the next plane to come over.