Grantchester star Robson Green criticises his own music career: "I failed artistically"
"It was my own personal Vietnam," says the actor who used to be one half of Robson & Jerome
He may have had three number-one singles in the mid-1990s with singing partner Jerome Flynn, but it turns out that actor Robson Green isn't exactly fond of his music career.
When asked what advice he'd offer his younger self were he to get the chance, the Grantchester star says to RadioTimes.com: "Don't sing. Failure in any career is an occurrence. I think that, artistically, it wasn't a good avenue to go down because you go from actor to celebrity. It's not a regret – I just think I failed artistically. It was my own personal Vietnam, so let's leave it at that."
Green and his former Soldier Soldier co-star Flynn topped the singles charts with songs including Unchained Melody, I Believe and What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, while two studio albums also peaked at number one.
Following their time as pop stars, Robson Green went on to feature in hit dramas such as Wire in the Blood and Waterloo Road, while Jerome Flynn landed regular roles in Ripper Street and Game of Thrones.
Robson Green – singing with Jerome Flynn (above) and sleuthing in Grantchester with James Norton (below)
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On the topic of what he'd learned from his three decade career in the public eye, Green says: "Never do anything that you don't instinctively feel comfortable with. Always trust your instincts. There've been a lot of programmes where I've thought, 'er, that might not work, but let's start and I'm sure we'll work it out'…It doesn't work like that.
"Soldier Soldier? No brainer. Reckless, the same. And Wire in the Blood. But there have been others where I've gone, 'mmm, that's not right, but we'll fix it'. That never pans out."
Thankfully, he had no reservations about Grantchester, the hit ITV detective drama returning next Wednesday in which he co-stars with James Norton. "I've never had to change a word in a Grantchester script," he comments. "That's very unusual for me. And if it wasn't for the body count, I'd move to Grantchester and live in that period. I think it's a very life-affirming programme."
But when asked what he brings to the sleuthing partnership of Detective Inspector Geordie Keating and Norton's vicar Sidney Chambers, Green gives another typically self-effacing answer. "If you ask James what he brings to the character of Sidney, he'll say that he has a First in theology from Cambridge. As for me, I've got a magnifying glass. And that's it. Sorry!"
Grantchester returns on Wednesday 2 March at 9pm on ITV. You can watch a trailer for the new series below
