WHEN it comes to his latest stage role, it's definitely a case of "no more mister nice guy" for Stephen Tompkinson.

The actor is about to play Vindice in The Revenger's Tragedy, a play with a body count that would give your average Hollywood action movie a run for its money.

Stephen reflects briefly on the role and smiles.

"It's an everyday story of clinically disturbed people who enjoy their excesses too much. The Duke poisoned Vindice's betrothed because she wouldn't consent to his lustful ways. Nine years later Vindice's come back for revenge on the whole dukedom. There's a lot of fun to be had in it as well as a lot of violence. It's proper, Jacobean fare," he says.

Although the piece was first publshed in 1607, the Royal Exchange Theatre has brought it bang up to date. In real life, Stephen is one of the most pleasant people I've after met and he talks about his profession with an enthusiasm that never degenerates into affectation. You could imagine yourself having a pint with him. In general, his TV and film roles have mirrored his own agreeable personality. Did he want to play Vindice because, as an actor, it would give him the chance to have blood on his hands?

"Exactly, yes - I suppose in the public's eye I've been very cosy, Sunday night family viewing for the last three years, because of Wild At Heart. Any actor likes the chance to do something completely different from what they're known for. This is a chance for me to flex my theatre muscles again and I haven't been at the Exchange for 15 years," he says.

For Stephen, appearing in the play is rather like meeting up with an old friend again, because the Stockton-on-Tees born actor studied it as part of his A level English course. His dad sent him notes on it.

"I finally managed to get through my illegible teenage scrawl. It's really refreshing to re-visit something again and see it again with fresh eyes," he says.

It was Channel 4's brilliant BAFTA award winning 90s sitcom Drop The Dead Donkey that first alerted me to Stephen's considerable acting skills. He played the roving TV news reporter Damian Day, a man who would go to any lengths, and I really do mean ANY lengths, to get the story. For me, he gave his finest film performance came in 1996, when he played Phil in Brassed Off, the heartbreaking tale of a Yorkshire mining community devastated by the government's pit closure programme. For Stephen too, this role represents a high water mark in his acting career.

Nor every actor gets the opportunity to work alongside a Hollywood A-lister, but that's what happened to Stephen in 2004 when he appeared in a play at London's Old Vic called Cloaca. It was a doubly special occasion, because the production marked the re-opening of the famous theatre and the director was none other than American Beauty star Kevin Spacey. This guy is amazing - everything he does is deeply affecting and highly memorable. But what's he like in real life?

"It's very easy to take direction from someone you know can do your job better than you," he says, with a modest smle.

"He's absolutely delightful and so passionate about the theatre the Old Vic. When he heard that the theatre was in danger of being turned into a car park he was the only person who reacted. At the height of his fame, to give up five years of his life to save one of the most famous theatres in the world was an incredible gesture," he says.

When the blood letting stops at the Exchange, Stephen will return to South Africa for six months to film the new series of Wild At Heart. His suitcase may not remain unpacked for too long, as one of the TV companies has expressed an interest in re-creating one of the most famous journeys in fiction.

"In the New Year they're talking about me doing a documentary - I don't know if it's going to happen - and they want to re-visit Jules Verne's first novel which was called Five Weeks In A Balloon. It was a journey from Zanzibar in East Africa to Senegal in the West. In reality Jules Verne made up the whole thing and the journey never took place - UNTIL NOW," he says. Rick Bowen * The Royal Exchange Theatre presents The Revenger's Tragedy from May 28 to June 28 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from 0161 833 9833. For the full interview, see Entertainment at www.messengernewspapers.co.uk