5 minutes with... Dominic Power

Dominic Power

Dominic Power

Actor Dominic Power plays PC Leon Taylor in The Bill, which can be seen Thursday nights on ITV1.

Power, who was born in Kent in 1973, has also appeared in Grange Hill, Doctors and Casualty over the years.

He played several small parts in The Bill before landing his current full-time role.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE SUN HILL'S LEON TAYLOR?

He's a little damaged I guess - he's still grieving over his girlfriend who died in a road traffic accident. It was a hit and run. They never caught the person who did it, so that hasn't quite been put to bed. He hasn't managed to move on in terms of his love life and his relationships. He's quite lonely, he's quite introspective.

YOU PLAYED A FEW CHARACTERS IN THE BILL BEFORE YOU LANDED THE ROLE OF LEON. WHICH WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE?

I played a copper in Scott Neal's first episode about 10 years ago. He played Luke Ashton and I played the bully copper who made his life hell. I guess that was memorable because I was dead jealous of Scott at the time for landing a regular part in something. I think that was about my third appearance.

HOW HAS THE BILL CHANGED SINCE MOVING TO A 9PM TIMESLOT?

I think the writers and producers made a decision not to alienate the hardcore audience overnight by completely changing it, so I don't think it's changed a great deal. Storylines might make it a little grittier as it goes on, as the audience gets used to what they're seeing, but I think it owed the audience that's been there for the last 25 years that kind of gradual change as oppose to the immediate, because they had to get used to the style of the filming, the soundtrack, the underscore and the timeslot. If they changed how the stories were presented too much then it would have been a bit out of order for the hardcore fans.

CONSIDERING IT'S BEEN ON AIR FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, THE BILL'S NOT DOING TOO BADLY IS IT?

The Bill's like a Formula One car that's somehow managed to stay in the race for 25 years with the handbrake on in terms of production values - but now the handbrake's off, it's great.

HOW DID YOU BECOME AN ACTOR?

I kind of fell into it by accident. I left school pretty much not knowing what I was going to do with myself, and ended up on a building site for a couple of years. It was a great life experience being out there, but I suddenly realised I couldn't cope in social situations. My brother's mates were all at university and I didn't have the points of reference, so I couldn't hold my own in conversation. I thought, 'You know what? I probably should go back to school and get some qualifications so I can start bantering with my brother's clever mates', and that's what I did. One of the subjects I re-took was drama, just because I still had a lazy element, and found that I quite enjoyed it and was quite good at it.

AND YOUR FIRST ROLE WAS AS TOAD OF TOAD HALL?

Yes. I'd never acted before in my life properly, so I was dead scared and just wanted to make my mates laugh, really. I was so scared when I was on stage dressed up as a Toad, and I was at that self-conscious age. I thought, 'No-one can see me dressed up as this toad, they have to see Mr Toad. The moment they see me with green make-up and these jodhpurs on and stuff, I'll be very embarrassed'. I didn't even know what I was doing then, but the director said, 'What you were doing was good', and that I had a natural gift for doing that. I thought, 'Yeah, okay. Maybe I'm good at doing this then'.

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