Rivals' Alex Hassell on finally finding his style groove

Alex Hassell has never attended fashion week before. "I’m expecting lots of men walking down a catwalk with clothes on," the actor says, jokingly, ahead of the Autumn/Winter 2025 Dunhill show, which is what has brought him to Milan this season. "The clothes designer Simon Holloway makes are so elegant, classic and gentlemanly, and it’s exciting to see that sort of tailoring still around. It's so chic and beautiful here in Milan and it seems the average man has put himself together in a way that British men, myself included, don’t necessarily do."

Darren Gerrish

Darren Gerrish

That being said, Hassell is no stranger to good clothes, nor is he ignorant to their existence. Earlier this year Rivals, Disney Plus's adaptation of Jilly Cooper's famously raunchy, camp and cleverly-layered novel, hit screens. Based in the 1980s and following the lives, dinner parties, office politics and affairs of a group of upper class Brits in the Cotswolds, it is a scandalous show full of twists, turns and excellent outfits.

44-year-old Hassell, who plays the troublesome, yet devilishly handsome Rupert Campbell-Black (inspired by real life handsome chap Andrew Parker-Bowles), is the guy with, arguably, the best outfits in the entire eight-part production. Super tight, cap-sleeved T-shirts tucked into high-waisted trousers held up with vintage gold buckled belts, John Smedley shirts, power-shouldered blazers, Ralph Lauren cricket knits and excellent coats from Anderson & Sheppard make up the controversial lothario's wardrobe. "I love collaborating with a costume designer and telling stories, adding depth and layering through costume and character, props and hair," Hassell, whose first role was in 2001's The Queen Of Swords, tells me from his hotel room in the centre of Milan. "You don’t have to do much acting then, as your costume does it for you. But equally you can do the total opposite of what the clothes do and that’s when you can have fun and create an interesting juxtaposition."

Darren Gerrish

Darren Gerrish

That's exactly what Hassell wanted to do with Rupert. "He’s privileged, but I think he enjoys being a bit of a rebel," he says, telling me that, up until this point, Rupert is one of his favourite characters he has played, and is the only character he's glad he will have a second shot at playing now Rivals has been renewed for a second season. "It was fun to work out the messages he wanted to send through his clothing and acting. The hope is that he remains enigmatic and that he appears to be one thing on the surface, and that he’s much more multi-faceted and concealing something. He has a public face that is controversial and problematic, which he loves, but inside is depth, texture and something he isn’t perhaps aware of." Hassell explains that learning Rupert's nuances was part of the job, helped in part by the TV show's costume designer Ray Holman, who also curated the clothes for Fleabag and Doctor Who. "Ray is an amazing costume designer," enthuses Hassell. "I know very little about the history of fashion and the deep coding in fashion, especially in the upper echelons of society when there’s money and class involved, and those traditional signals that people sent through clothing isn’t something I know about. And Ray would guide me and I’d be like 'can’t I wear the shirt like this', but he’d say 'well no he went to Harrow so he just wouldn’t.'"

When it comes to his own wardrobe, Hassell is finding his feet. "I don’t own, until more recently, many smart clothes," he says, explaining that working with a stylist - GQ Style and Arena Homme Plus alum David Bradshaw - is helping him. "I wouldn’t say I’m scruffy and I do like to think about how I look - although sometimes I can’t be fucked," he says, laughing. "The further I’ve got in my acting career, the less I’ve started to feel self-conscious about expressing myself through my clothes. I’ve often felt that wearing smart clothes make me feel like I’m in a costume and not very myself, but I've recently started finding my own version of smart style." He explains that he's wearing a lot of vintage clothing, notably from the 1970s and 1990s. "Lots of vintage Prada!"

Darren Gerrish

Darren Gerrish

Hassell's outfit for the Dunhill show, which comprises a light grey three-piece suit from the Spring/Summer 2025 collection, paired with brown lace-up shoes and navy details by way of a pocket square and Windsor-knotted tie, had him feeling quite Carey Grant. "I grew up from the age of 15 years old obsessed with the American acting culture," he says, citing Marlon Brando and "Jimmy Dean" as key inspirations. "So my style since then has always been a little 1950s inspired, with a little bit of Beatnik in there, and I also can’t seem to get away from Danny Zuko. I love a white T-shirt with a capped sleeve and a pair of boots. I’m more at home looking like I’ve been pulled through a hedge, but it’s nice to wear something adult that makes me feel good."

The actor also feels extremely comfortable in his own skin, and just his skin. Rivals and Cooper's novel opens with Rupert stark naked in an eye-popping tennis scene, alongside Emily Atack. "So getting my clothes off was part of the initial conversation," Hassell shares with me. "It’s in the book and it’s a very famous scene and they wanted to do certain scenes right. It wasn’t like a 'you can’t play the part if you don’t take your clothes off' kind of conversation, but the producers were really keen." Hassell has no qualms in doing so. "I was just like sure, and I’m afraid to say it wasn’t the first time I've been naked. I did it in my twenties in Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore. It was the first play, because of decency rules, where you could move and be naked, so in a wide shot about 8 of us dance naked." Hassell also appears naked in Amazon Prime Video's The Boys. "I’ll do it if I think it’s right or has integrity to the plot, and I won’t do it all the time. And I definitely don’t want a reputation for it, but I’m not particularly body shy. We're all naked all the time. Also women historically always have to get their clothes off, especially in the first episode of high-end TV shows. It’s a terrible thing and I like even the balance. To tackle that, the phrase they used in Rivals is 'equal opportunities of nakedness' and it is quite unusual to have a main male character early on.

But for now Hassell is fully clothed. His next role, which he has filmed, will be a British spy thriller, alongside Malcolm McDowell. "Great costumes - full bike leathers with patches. I play a psychotic character with face tattoos. I often play bad people. The fun is to get into it all."

Now read an interview with Ed Westwick as he takes on fashion week

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