Martin Compston

Early life, family and education

Martin Compston was born to a Catholic family, the younger of two brothers, The boys were raised in Greenock, Scotland. Martin attended St Columba's High School in neighbouring Gourock.

Football career

A promising footballer, he was a youth player with Aberdeen as a teenager, and after leaving school signed for his local professional club, Greenock Morton.

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 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's Sweet Sixteen, which was being filmed locally. The film's success at the Cannes Film Festival gave him instant celebrity status in Scotland. Both he and his co-star William Ruane were nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards, 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 (Jury Prize and Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Festival) with Robert Downey, Jr.; Red Road (Jury Prize at Cannes), shot in Scotland with Kate Dickie and Tony Curran, for which he was nominated as Best Supporting Actor at the Scottish BAFTAs; and True North with Peter Mullan and Gary Lewis, for which he was nominated as Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards.

Compston starred in the 2010 film Soulboy, alongside Craig Parkinson, playing the role of Joe McCain. In 2012 Compston played the lead role of Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott, a detective in an anti-corruption squad, in the BBC police drama Line of Duty, acting alongside Craig Parkinson 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 The Wee Man, directed by Ray Burdis, a film depicting the life of the Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris. It was released in the UK in January 2013.

In April 2013 Compston starred in the ITV miniseries The Ice Cream Girls. 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. In 2020, he starred alongside Sophie Rundle in the television series The Nest. In 2021 Compston was cast to star as Fulmer Hamilton in the Amazon Prime Video 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

In 2016 Compston married Tianna Chanel Flynn, an American actress. They have a son and live in both Scotland and Las Vegas.

Political views

Compston is a supporter of Scottish independence and the Scottish National Party.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

References

1. (30 March 2022). "Profile: Martin Compston". list.co.uk.
2. Greenstreet, Rosanna. (5 March 2022). "Martin Compston: 'Who would play me in the film of my life? Vicky McClure'".
3. (12 March 2022). "Martin Compston: Plucked to stardom from a school corridor". BBC News.
4. (1 May 2017). "How Line of Duty star Martin Compston went from Dons starlet to DS Arnott". [[Evening Express (Scotland).
5. (26 September 2002). "Martin Compston: Sweet Sixteen". [[BBC]].
6. "Martin Compston". Neil Brown.
7. (26 September 2017). "Greenock actor Martin Compston backs Ravenscraig club". Greenock Telegraph.
8. (26 August 2010). "How Martin Compston Shimmied from Football to Films". The Guardian.
9. (11 October 2002). "Profile and awards: Sweet Sixteen (2002)". [[British Independent Film Awards]].
10. (November 2024}} Compston appeared in [[The View (band)). "Line of Duty Star Martin Compston: Glass Ceiling for Actors Who Aren't Posh Enough is Holding Back Talent". [[Daily Record (Scotland).
11. (15 April 2012). "Martin Compston Opens Heart about Love Split and Death of Beloved Gran". Daily Record.
12. (13 January 2013). "Interview: Martin Compston Talks about His New Film ''The Wee Man''". [[The Scotsman]].
13. (15 April 2013). "Actor Martin Compston Makes Waves as Leading Man". The Scotsman.
14. Media Monkey. (6 March 2013). "Martin Compston to Play Great Train Robber in BBC1 Drama". The Guardian.
15. (25 July 2012). "''Line of Duty'' to Return for Second Series". BBC.
16. (4 September 2014). "''Line of Duty'' to Return for Further Two Series". BBC.
17. Bley Griffiths, Eleanor. (21 December 2016). "How Historically accurate is ''In Plain Sight''? The True Story of Serial Killer Peter Manuel Played by Martin Compston". [[Radio Times]].
18. Ferguson, Brian. (13 March 2020). "The Nest: Martin Compston, Sophie Rundle, Mirren Mack and Shirley Henderson on Scotland's new TV thriller".
19. (17 March 2021). "'Schitt's Creek' Star Emily Hampshire Joins Amazon UK Series 'The Rig'; Scotland Shoot To Begin This Month".
20. (6 January 2023). "The Rig fans are all saying the same thing after Martin Compston drama launches".
21. (7 March 2022). "TV tonight: Martin Compston stars in psychological drama Our House".
22. Adejobi, Alicia. (7 March 2022). "Our House viewers fume as ITV goes goes off-air during opening episode: 'Trying to work out what I've missed'".
23. (7 March 2022). "Martin Compston on Line of Duty, accents and his new show Our House".
24. Sansome, Jessica. (7 March 2022). "Our House on ITV: What it's about, cast and where you've seen them before".
25. Mullen, Stacey. (20 June 2016). "Line of I Do: Actor Martin Compston marries actress Tianna Chanel Flynn".
26. {{imdb name. 5068706. Tianna Chanel Flynn
27. (7 June 2023). "Martin Compston on 'horrors' of child labour after visit to Bangladesh".
28. Stubley, Peter. (2 May 2021). "Line of Duty's Martin Compston urges Scots to vote for Nicola Sturgeon". [[The Independent]].
29. (8 September 2022). "Martin Compston's Scottish Fling". BBC.
30. (19 December 2022). "Mayflies - Meet the cast and creatives behind the drama that 'discovers the joy and the costs of love'". BBC.
31. (21 December 2023). "Martin Compston's Norwegian Fling coming to BBC TV and BBC iPlayer in 2024". BBC.
32. (9 March 2024). "Film crews to descend on Glasgow for new TV thriller".
33. (June 18, 2025). "Paramount+, Gaumont & Fremantle Team Up On Thriller Series ‘The Revenge Club’ Starring Martin Compston, Aimée-Ffion Edwards, Meera Syal & More".
34. (27 February 2025). "Red Eye Series 2".