Tom Bateman says there is a "funny line between feeling objectified and supported" after channelling his inner Ross Poldark in a topless scythe scene in ‘Beecham House’.
The 30-year-old actor portrays Englishman John Beecham who lives in a magnificent mansion, Beecham House, in the Indian city of Delhi in the upcoming ITV period drama, but he has insisted director Gurinder Chadha was "wonderful at making [him] not feel like an idiot" during his character’s ‘Poldark’-style shirtless scene.
When asked if it felt objectified, he said: "No. You feel a bit, there’s a funny line between feeling objectified and feeling supported.
"It’s a very odd one because we were on set and when I had to do the scythe scene, Gurinder’s wonderful at making you not feel like an idiot – but at the same time she’s not crossed the line into …what’s the word … perving."
While Tom admits the ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ director did joke about slightly by describing what the camera crew were saying about his topless scene, he "felt supported" because everyone on set was "making fun of each other".
He added: "She sort of, you know, she said, ‘Oh you look fantastic, it’s a great scene,’ and she sort of made some comment about people sat behind the monitor going, ‘Oooh,’ you know.
"Which didn’t make me feel uncomfortable, because by that point we were just a big old family, so I just felt supported and we were all making fun of each other."
Gurinder previously admitted she thought of Googlebox’s Malone family while making the new ITV period drama, using them as her "audience research" tool by imagining how Tom, Julie, Shaun and Tom Jr might react to certain scenes.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz and other media, she said: "Whatever I make I always have an audience in my mind that I’m making it for, because that helps me focus on the politics and the drama and everything.
"For me, that family I had in mind was the Malones from ‘Gogglebox’.
"I like ‘Gogglebox’, it’s one of my favourite programmes, because that’s my audience research.
"But the Malones were who I kept coming back to every time I directed something or every time I cut it.
"I kept saying, ‘What will the Malones be thinking?’ That was the transition."
‘Beecham House’ begins on June 23 on ITV at 9pm.
Beecham House’s Tom Bateman on ‘funny line’ between ‘feeling objectified and supported’
