Rivals: Official teaser trailer
Rivals has come into the spotlight after its release on Disney+ and it stars Alex Hassell as the fictional character Rupert Campbell-Black from the Jilly Cooper romance novels. The 44-year-old actor, from Southend in Essex, is known for both is stage and screen roles.
The His Dark Materials and Henry V star is the youngest of four children and he studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He may be seen as the heartthrob now but the star admitted to being bullied at school.
Despite this, he went on to achieve great things and met his wife, actress Emma King, in the world of showbiz. Alex said he had a reputation for taking his clothes off in shows, including The Boys, so his wife warned him he better stop "before I get a name for myself".
In an interview with inews he continued to say he is "not particularly body shy" and decided to “be blasé when it came to this [Rivals] role while reading the script", having previously opened up about breaking the ice on set. Emma King has previously starred in The Cry, The Vanishing and Dagr.
Both she and Alex starred in the series Cowboy Bebop, with Emma playing Godard and Alex playing Vicious.
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The couple met at drama school and they have been married for 13 years, having tied the knot in January 2011.
Although they share regular snaps with one another on social media, they are relatively private when it comes to their personal life.
Alex did pay tribute to his wife back in 2021 when he shared some behind-the-scenes snaps from the set of Cowboy Bebop.
He said: "What an unbelievable joy it is to share the screen with my amazingly talented wife as Dr Godard.
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"We had the best time and think a spin off show would go down a treat. We aren't like that at home I promise!"
He further gushed about his wife in a post from 2020 following a visit to Echo Park.
"Just had the most wonderful day with this most wonderful of women," he said. "Everything is just so much brighter when she's around."
Rivals is available to watch on Disney+
