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Most famous for his meticulously accurate role as corporate-strung David in UK drama series Cold Feet, it's hard to imagine Robert Bathurst playing any other role.
But scratch the surface of his over-flowing curriculum vitae and the extent of his repertoire becomes clear in just minutes.
With plays, stage tours, commercials, films, sitcoms, drama and nights on the radio running out of things to say, and most importantly the filming of the much-praised Cold Feet, it's safe to say Bathurst really has done it all.
"In a mad, ignorant and deeply depressing move I even held a spear at the National Theatre in Frances de La Tour's St Joan. That was back when I thought this acting thing was easy," said Bathurst ahead of his latest stage show, Alex, which opens at the Madinat Theatre, Dubai, tonight.
"Luckily my face was covered in chain mail so none of my peers could recognise me at all."
An assorted mix of stage appearances later and Bathurst soon found his feet in Joking Apart - a television series by Steven Moffat which won the Bronze Rose of Montreux and continued for a further two seasons.
Now in its final stages of a world tour, Bathurst plays Alex in the play based on the cartoon strip of same name - but denies being anything like the corporate character he takes on.
"It's funny but I believe people think I'm more like Alex than I really am. I don't identify with the character in many ways, which makes acting him a lot of fun. It is a challenge to be someone who is far removed from how you view yourself but, at the same time, it's fun because it's almost like being in a cartoon."
Ironic, as Alex (the character) is the only "live" character in the one-man stage show - everyone else being cartoon drawings by the critically acclaimed cartoonist Charles Peattie.
Yuppie generation
Peattie first created Alex in 1987 and he was a regular on the pages of the world's major national newspapers, including Gulf News.
Alex is a daily cartoon strip about a banker who works in the City of London, offering an insider's view of the corporate financial world and the lifestyles of its denizens.
Alex first appeared in 1987 on the city pages of the short-lived London Daily News, as a representative of the yuppie generation of that era.
However he has become a tenacious survivor through several economic cycles and in the subsequent decades the strip has followed his activities as a 30-something "new dad", through executive breakdowns, boom, bust, unemployment, brief stints in "real" jobs outside the city, and up to the present day, where he manages to hang on in the treacherous world of institutional banking.
Over the years Alex has also been shot, kidnapped, run over, encountered ghosts and vampires, been abducted by aliens and marooned in the Amazon rainforest.
He's endured two weeks as a homeless person on the streets of New York, been called to the priesthood and has vivid nightmares about being a pupil at Hogwarts.
A number of real people have made appearances in the strip including Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Prince William, Robbie Williams and Bill Clinton.
Getting recognised
From 1987-1991 Alex appeared in The Independent. In 1992 he treacherously defected to The Daily Telegraph where he has featured ever since.
But it's not often that Bathurst is recognised for his role as Alex.
"I was once in a bar in Hong Kong and a man approached me and asked if I was the President of Britain. It took me a while to establish where his confusion stemmed from but I eventually worked out he had seen me in a programme called My Dad's the Prime Minister written by Ian Hislop where I played the Prime Minister of Britain.
It was nice to be recognised but just goes to show you have no idea the things people will remember you in and the things they won't.
"Television is very different to stage work for many different reasons. The recognition of a daily play is far greater as you can gauge the success of the show each night. Television is harder in some ways as you have no idea whether what you're working on will make it or not."
Something which didn't take too long to establish in the case of Cold Feet - a series which won over millions of viewers in the UK and further afield from season to season.
"Working on Cold Feet was a wonderful experience and the biggest challenge was capturing the "reason" Karen, my wife, and David were still together.
"We played a couple with three children and a rocky relationship which included an affair for me. So making sure people believed why we were together was important, with small glances and touches when it mattered."
About Alex
Alex is married to Penny, an artistic soul whose ambitions have long been subsumed by the duties of being a corporate wife.
His son Christopher was born in 1989. Has had a number of affairs, firstly with his Essex girl secretary Wendy and in 1996 he got with his female boss Jane in an attempt to secure a bigger bonus out of her.
About Robert
Robert is married to Victoria Threlfall, a painter.His four daughters are 11, 14, 17 and 19. Robert has not had any affairs and isn't planning on it either.
Don't miss it!
For tickets, priced Dh190 regular and Dh300 VIP, which includes a programme, Alex book and post-show reception with Robert Bathurst, call the Madinat Theatre box office on 04-3666550.
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