Touring in the hit comedy play Wife After Death, Shirley Valentine star Tom Conti talks to MATTHEW JENKIN about playing lotharios, monogamy and working with Helen Mirren.

DESPITE his reputation as a lothario and rumours of a fling with the late Princess Diana, actor Tom Conti's lips are tightly sealed on the subject of his personal life.

Although he is speaking to me to promote his latest role in the comedy Wife After Death at The Churchill his silence is deafening and only makes me want to know more.

In an interview with a national paper last December, he said there were worst things than adultery and sex is nothing more than an extension of a handshake.

He admits to me his relaxed attitude to relationships is probably why his 'open' marriage to fellow actress Kara Wilson has lasted more than 40 years.

“Monogamy is not practised much, shall we say. It really isn't,” laughed the Paisley-born star of Shirley Valentine in which he played a seductive Greek taverna owner.

But the 68-year-old denies his real life mirrors that of the men he has portrayed on screen.

He said: “The characters I've played are fairly removed from my own life really.

“Of course, it's always fun to play those roles and that's why most actors do it in the first place – to have a good time. We didn't join the business to be tortured.”

But in the veteran heart-throb's latest comic play, visiting the Bromley theatre next week, he has left his smooth-talking image behind to play a grumpy writer mourning the death of his close friend and one of the nation's most popular comedians.

Tom said: “It's about what happens after this comedian's death and the discoveries that are made about this man who was so adored.

“It's one of the funniest plays I've ever been involved with. Audiences just absolutely love it. People just want to laugh at the moment. They don't want tragedy. They want to go to the theatre and have a good time.”

Receiving rave reviews, Wife After Death has been a resounding success for the actor who also directs the play.

But the suburbs of London are a world away from filming in Hawaii for the forthcoming film adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest, starring Helen Mirren as Prospero.

It wasn't all sun, sea and sand though.

“It was a very difficult shoot indeed because the terrain on the island is very tough to work on, with jagged, volcanic rocks,” he explains.

“The crew had to carry tremendously heavy equipment and it was very perilous. I remember it really for that.”

The film reunites Tom with Oscar-winning Dame Helen after they starred together in the 1986 romantic comedy Heavenly Pursuits.

He said: “Helen is an absolute delight. We did a picture together years ago it's lovely to work with her again. She is a very straight, no nonsense girl who gets on with the job.”

Wife After Death. The Churchill, High Street, Bromley. May 24 to May 29. Call 08448 717 620 or visit ambassadortickets.com