Rivals star Alex Hassell says he spent years of his career 'devastated' because he kept 'bombing' before being 'healed' by Rupert Campbell-Black part

Alex Hassell has opened up about the pain he felt for much of his acting career after what should have been blockbuster roles 'bombed' leaving him 'devastated'.

The Rivals actor, 46, was given the role of international Lothario Rupert Campbell-Black in the Disney series and his star has risen stratospherically since.

But before his success, Alex revealed there were years of pain as he admitted during a Telegraph interview that it 'f***ing hurt' not to feel good enough at his job.

Alex has previously played a hitman in Coen brothers written film Suburbicon, directed by George Clooney that also starred Matt Damon and Julianne Moore.

While the line-up suggested the film would be a Hollywood hit, Alex said that it 'bombed' despite being convinced it would be a 'game-changer' for his career. 

'I've had a lot of springboards and then I've sort of… hit the floor afterwards,' he said candidly. 'It f***ing hurt. It was really, really painful.'

He continued: 'I really thought there was something deficient in me, and I couldn't understand why. Obviously you go, "Well, it's because I'm s***t. I'm not good enough... I was like, this hurts too much. That was really hard. And then, for whatever reason, things picked up. But that's why playing Rupert is so complicated: I took that sense of failure with me.'

However, Alex admitted because of the type of character Rupert is, playing the part has helped to heal the negative way in which he saw himself. 

Struggling with the idea of self-worth in therapy, Rupert role has helped him

He said: 'I can't believe it sometimes, actually, the perfectness of it. If there was any role to make me address loads of s**t about the way I saw myself, it's this one,' he says. 'All of the problems I had with [the role of Rupert], all of the fear I had about it, it's been incredibly helpful to not be deemed to have f***d it up, or have been too hideously disgusting to play the part. I've had to think a lot about it and reappraise the way I've carried myself through life.' 

He agreed that on some level, Rupert has helped him find his way back to himself. 

Ahead of the second part of series two, which starts next week, Alex also revealed the brutal advice Jilly Cooper gave him before her death.

It was specifically about filming with his on-screen love interest Bella Maclean, revealed in his latest interview with the Radio Times.

He has played ruthless Rupert across two seasons of the raunchy Disney+ show based on Dame Jilly's 1988 novel.

And while he is known for his womanising ways, Bella's character Taggie can't help but fall for the retired Olympian show jumper as their love story becomes complicated.

Alex has now shared how Jilly didn't want Alex to hold back and urged him to 'break her like a horse'. 

In the first season he puts his hands up Taggie's skirt at a dinner party before forcing her to dance. 

He told the magazine: 'For a while, I was trying to make him likeable. When he danced with Taggie, I felt he would be tacitly apologising to her, but Jilly said to me, "No, he grabs her and tries to break her like a young horse". I was like, "Woah!"'

Alex also confessed he found it difficult to embrace an 'alpha, macho Lothario' when playing Rupert as the character is so far from himself. 

The son of a vicar and nurse, Alex explained how he went to a comprehensive school and never thought he could 'exude what Rupert has'. 

'I was fearful of playing Rupert because I had an inherent feeling of what a man should be, and I didn’t think I was capable of playing that alpha, macho Lothario.'

Despite his doubts, the actor's portrayal of the Tory member in the hit series is widely considered a career-defining breakthrough for him.

He also received praise from Jilly herself, before her passing in October 2025.

On meeting the beloved author, he said: 'I'm so glad to have met her and to have spent time with her and to be told explicitly by her that she was really proud of what I was doing.'

Alex added that was his final conversation with the star and that it's really 'moving to remember'.

Rivals returns on November 11 for the final episodes in its second series, and the residents of Rutshire are seeing out the season in style and scandal.