FLEEING Walford can be a difficult business - the list of those suffering from the 'soap curse' is long. This infects those who've been involved in a high-profile, audience-puller only to leave and end up in panto. But one man who's definitely escaped is actor Ross Kemp. With 10 years under his belt in EastEnders playing bully boy Grant Mitchell, Ross left in 1999 to try his hand elsewhere. A Christmas Carol, A Crooked Man, In Defence, and of course, popular series Ultimate Force followed. And just when we thought he was being typecast as the rent-a-TV-macho-man, he went and convinced theatre audiences as Petruchio in Shakespeare's Taming of The Shrew. The man's proved himself. But were it not for an 80s cheesy commercial, advertising Kellogg's Fruit 'n Fibre, Ross wouldn't be here today. "If anyone wants to take the piss out of me for that they can. But I earned about £14,000 for two days work, which in 1987 was a lot of money," spits the 39-year-old. "If it hadn't been for that, then I wouldn't be here now because it got me through a year. It saved me from giving up and doing a proper job. "I've only been out of work for seven months since I left drama school in 1985." Although he's been busy, the actor admits that he's been in some TV turkeys - although he's not naming names. He's a world away from the hard-talking, fist -twirling Grant, and is a lot stockier in the flesh than on screen. Ross gives the impression that he'd love to get rid of the EastEnders' tag, but realises nonetheless that the show has done him many a favour: "When you've played a character that was in the public consciousness for so long, you're never going to shed that. "David Jason's an amazing actor and he's played a wide range of characters but I'm sure all he gets is 'Del Boy' when he's walking down the road. If you don't like that, tough. "I don't watch EastEnders. I never watched it when I was in it. It would be wrong of me to become a critic," he says of the current troubled storylines. And as for words of wisdom for fellow actors leaving the soap fold he has little to impart. "Do work that doesn't destroy what you've already done but doesn't reinforce it either. That doesn't make sense does it? What's my advice? I haven't got a clue - good luck!" In that case Ross's luck is holding, with a starring role in new drama, A Line In The Sand - based on the novel of the same name written by Gerald Seymour - on ITV1 on Monday, June 7 and Tuesday, June 8, after three years on ITV's shelves. The gripping two-parter sees Ross playing Gavin Hughes, a salesman for an agricultural company which sells to the Middle East. MI6 discovers that, over in Iran, these products aren't being used solely for farming, they're coming in pretty handy to make weapons. Persuaded to become an informant, or else face prison, Hughes gets in so much bother he's forced to create a new life for himself. This means turning his back on his wife, son and parents and becoming one 'Frank Perry'. But of course, it's not as easy as all that. There's a love story at the centre of the tale, which becomes very emotional in the second instalment. "You're not going to be laughing in the aisles at the end of it, it's rather sad," warns Ross. "I'm not famous for my happy endings." Ross's parents also feature in the show starring as extras because they lived down the road from where the majority of the action was shot in Suffolk. "They didn't get paid, I hasten to add," laughs Ross. "They've never seen me work before. My father was far less interested than my mother was." Their presence meant they witnessed son Ross weeping through a fair few scenes. Another new element to Ross's CV is working on an upcoming American TV movie Spartacus, with Goran 'ER' Visnjic. "I'm not in it very much, I get killed on page 60 and it's a 240-page script! It was an eye-opener, purely for the amount of money spent," he says. The project has sparked a desire to do more work in the US. "I went over there and met casting directors. They haven't really got a clue what I do or where I come from. "It's like going back and starting all over again. I don't mind doing that and if the work came then I'd go there." Other than that, Ross is currently working on a third series of Ultimate Force, which he dubs 'FHM television' and in another departure from the norm, a spot of writing. "But I don't think I'm good enough to write a script. I've read too many good ones and too many bad ones." * A LINE In The Sand is on ITV1 on Monday, June 7, and Tuesday, June 8 | 
