Martin Clunes was ghosted after auditioning for Hollywood blockbuster

Martin Clunes could have starred alongside Ben Stiller in a 2013 film (Picture: ITV/Neil Genower)

When actors reach a certain point in their career, they can secure their next jobs without any need to audition.

Martin Clunes has reached that place in the UK, which has afforded him this privilege, although, he’s keen to note that he would be willing.

However, when it comes to Hollywood, he’s still having to grind in the often unforgiving process.

In 2013, he tried to impress producers, including Ben Stiller, for a role in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The movie about one man’s mission to find a missing negative print and its elusive photojournalist, also starred Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, and Sean Penn. Unfortunately, Martin was quite far off joining them in the end credits.

Recalling the disaster audition, Martin explained how he ended making a very unique decision.

‘Americans expect you to self-tape, and I asked Phillipa [Braithwaite, Martin’s wife] to read the other lines. She said: “I don’t want my voice in it”. So I put the camera on my Jack Russell and I read the other lines too,’ he recalled to Metro and other media.

Ben Stiller produced and starred in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Picture: Red House/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

‘I did not get a callback, not even a rejection.’

The 63-year-old actor was going for the role of a drunken Greenlandic helicopter pilot, unnamed in the script, which eventually went to Ólafur Darri Ólafsson.

But Hollywood’s loss is our gain, and his latest gift to British TV is Out There.

The new six-part ITV drama features Martin as farmer Nathan Williams,who is pulled into a dark world of county lines drug dealing when his teenage son Johnny, played by Louis Ashbourne Serkis, becomes involved. He must fight to protect his family, homestead, and legacy.

Martin is playing Nathan Williams (Picture: ITV)

Out There also stars Mark Lewis Jones as Nathan’s brother Caleb Williams, Carly-Sophia Davies and Gerran Howell as sister and brother Sadie and Rhys, whose lives are embroiled in the crime, and Natalia Kostrzewa as Eva, a cleaner who is drawn into the fight against the dark forces.

A major theme throughout the episodes is the grief the central characters feel after losing the matriarch of the family. They took extra care to ensure that it resembled the reality of how people may deal with a loss.

Speaking at the lauch event for Out There, held at London’s Soho Hotel,Martin said: ‘It’s not that they just sit down and grieve all the time, there is moments of light because that’s how it is in real life.’

He continued: ‘Men can feel like they have to just carry on, and my character does plough on.

‘I remember when my dad died when I was eight and the advice was “You’re the man of the house now and you’ve got to be grown up”. I was still wetting the bed, but never mind.’

Martin and Louis managed to create a truthful bond on set that was then reflective on screen. Speaking of their characters, he said: ‘The darker life becomes, it’s almost like they get closer. When the story begins they are disconnected because what 17 year old boy wants to hang out with their dad? I know from experience that they don’t,’ Martin, who has a 25-year-old daughter called Emily, summarised.

Martin goes to Philippa for advice (Picture: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

Taking on the gritty drama following his exit from the much lighter Doc Martin who he played for nearly two decades, could be seen as a smart decision to demonstrate his range. The reality is that Martin has never actually had a plan.

Martin admitted: ‘You can never relax in this industry because you are self-employed. You can make a plan if you want, but the reality is it’s not up to you.’

But there is one person who’s approval he wants to gain before saying yes to anything – Phillipa, who is a talented producer in her own right. She was recently nominated for a BAFTA for her executive producing role on ITV drama, Manhunt, which starred Martin.

‘She’s the brains behind a lot of things. She’s pretty smart, so I go with her. I trust her,’ he remarked.

Out There will premiere on ITV1 and be available to stream on ITVX.

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