British actor Luca Pasqualino is hard to pin down. Since his debut in Skins back in 2009 at the age of 18, he has gone on to play everything from the honourable Musketeer d’Artagnan to a morally grey police officer in Apple TV+’s Criminal Record, and the loveably awkward David Kostyk in Shadow and Bone.

Currently, you can see him in Disney+’s hit series Rivals, adapted from Jilly Cooper’s novels. In the show, he portrays 80s rake Basil ‘Bas’ Baddingham, brother to Tony Baddingham (David Tennant) and best friend to Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell). One to avoid conflict and seek pleasure, Basil has shown throughout season two that he enjoys a good game, but there may be genuine feelings beneath his affable, flirtatious exterior. Or is that part of the game too?

Ahead of the release of the first three episodes of Rivals season two’s second half tomorrow, Luca reunites with 1883 Magazine to discuss a new side to the polo-playing playboy, what he looks for when auditioning for a role, and his upcoming projects.

Warning: some slight spoilers for Rivals episode seven below.

You have been busy since 1883 last spoke to you! Doing some really good work. Congratulations especially on Rivals! It is such a great show and Season two has been great and emotional so far.

Thank you!

So we kick off Part Two with Monica’s funeral and we see Bas really taking a leading role, in his family, as a brother to Tony (David Tennant) and also with his nieces – that really sweet scene where he takes the kids after Tony’s outburst. What was it like filming that?

Well it was heartbreaking and so joyous to read those scenes anyway. But this is a part of Bas that we haven’t seen yet. So it was great to be able to explore that. And especially to be exploring that side with David Tennant. There are brothers but they never really see eye to eye but fundamentally, they are brothers and Bas wants to be there for his brother. He knows that Tony is not a great person but he has lost someone so incredibly special in his life, and I think that Bas and Monica had a great relationship. We didn’t see it but I imagine they would get together, have a smoke or a cup of tea or whatever, and talk about how much they disliked Tony and his ways

Just having a smoke and going ‘fucking Tony!”

Exactly! “Fucking Tony.” Exactly. I think the audience will like seeing this side of Bas, and I think it’s something the audience will be able to relate to,

And how was that developing that brotherly relationship with David?

David is great. Danny and I call him the Rolls-Royce. He’s so convincing in this role as Tony. It’s difficult not to be impressed with. You don’t really need to act with David, you just have to react. He gives you so much without even knowing it. All you have to do is just sort of play off him. There’s a moment in the episode, on the stairs and after he takes the gun from Tony, and he says, “You know, I’ll take the kids.”

There’s a little bit of a moment and he says, “I don’t know what to do, Basil.” Bas says, “I know.” There’s a moment where he puts his arms around him and sort of comforts him.

I think that it is probably the first time they’ve ever touched in a loving way. I don’t really feel like they would’ve played together as kids. They wouldn’t have. Obviously, there’s a bit of an age gap and they’ve got different fathers. I feel as tender as that moment was, I feel like Bas probably felt uncomfortable and awkward doing it because he doesn’t really know that side of Tony; he hasn’t really seen that side of Tony much.

And I think in order for him to try and, you know, to try and comfort his brother, you know, he would’ve been out of his depth in, in knowing what to do there. So sort of just to sort of go, “There, there,” was probably the most he knew how to do. I do think it was such a beautiful moment and, I do hope that we get to see a little bit more of that side and get to see a bit more of Tony and Bas together because I do think there’s a lot of their history that we haven’t really uncovered.

With season two in general, there has been such an interesting reaction to Basil and Taggie’s (Bella Maclean) relationship. I personally love it – I know everyone loves Ruper and Taggie but we have seen a new side to Basil and even Taggie.

I think there’s gonna be a lot more reactions to the second half.  Fans are still gonna be rooting for Rupert and Taggie, but I do think that you’re lying just a little if you’re not rooting just a little bit for Taggie and Bas!

I think the aim of those scenes is to sort of, is to sort of allow audiences to see that Taggy is so much more than we see and that Taggy and Bas could be something and we have to wait and see. There’s a lot more to come. Bella is such a joy to work with. She’s one of my favourite people to share the screen with. She’s so great and it was fun to build that relationship and unwrap those sides of them both.

Taggie and Bas are really sweet together and I really loved the moments in part one and part two, we see the relationship really develop. I just want Taggie happy, she’s so sweet.

She’s just the ultimate sweetheart, isn’t it, isn’t she? And I think, as you know, as the series develops, as the second half of the series develops, you see a different side to Bas because of how he sees Taggie. There are a lot of women in Bas’s life who would just be seen as another exploit. I don’t really feel like he sees Taggy as that, you know? In contrast to popular belief and some of the things he says.

But I do think he really likes her. She’s a sweetheart. Why wouldn’t Bas wanna get to know her more?

It really is pulling Bas into a difficult situation, especially with Rupert. Bas is not a fan of conflict, he tries to stay out of it.

No, I don’t think he likes conflict. One of Bas’s lines is, “it’s far more enjoyable to make your own chaos instead.” He doesn’t like conflict or any of that sort of stuff, so, and, and the confrontation.

Bas and Rupert have never have never talked about what Rupert actually wants and they do come to blows.

Physical ones!

Yep! I think as far as Bas is concerned, Rupert kind of made his choice when he went with Cameron. Rupert is incredibly honest with everyone but it seems that the only person he’s not really honest with is himself.  We’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.

I think fans will be incredibly excited. I loved watching the show and I really love the Hunter’s Ball. The setting, the costumes were so beautiful and it was dramatic! How was it filming that?

That was so much fun. Some of my favourite scenes are when we’re shooting big sequences like that where everybody is there. Do you know what I mean? Everybody there together – you know you’re gonna be in that location for, you know, a couple of weeks, and as you can start to go a little bit stir crazy while looking at the same four walls every day for, you know, 12 hours or whatever.

But it was just so much fun, and Elliot did such an amazing job with shooting that episode, able to have both the complete craziness of the occasion but there’s still this sort of undertone of heartbreak and seriousness.

It was brilliant. We shot in this beautiful castle and it was just so much fun, you’re bouncing off each other.

Bouncing off the walls!

Bouncing off the walls, exactly! It was just great to film.

It reminded me of a ball I went to at uni – it was so beautiful but also strange and exactly the same uniforms.

Really? I think those suits never change, probably won’t. I think a lot of people really still love the fact that they haven’t changed for so many years.

They do and it is a weird comfort that they don’t change. The balls are always mad, I didn’t know what to expect!

 Did they release a pig though?

Oh God, they did and I broke my heel climbing up on a table because I am a city girl and was not expecting that.

Yeah, well, being a city girl and going to a, going to a ball like that, that’s definitely gonna change your outlook on a few things, isn’t it?

Yeah, it gave me a new outlook on the countryside. I used to think the countryside set was a little weird but they take eccentricity to a whole new level.

Yeah, the word eccentric doesn’t quite cut it, does it, I guess?

I am aware of how good you are not spoiling everything and we’ll move on, so that we both don’t get told off!

I have to sort of bite my tongue because I do forget myself sometimes. I’m hoping we don’t get told off.

Let’s talk about your other work! Great job on Criminal Record. How was it coming into such a brilliant show for season two?

That was great. You know what? It was, it was, it was so nice for me because I was working with Peter Capaldi again, since The Musketeers. It was my first time working with Cush Gumbo but we have a lot of mutual friends, so that was nice to sort of share the screen with her again.

And one of our producers, Carmel Maloney, was actually a producer that I did the Musketeers with as well. So it was sort of like getting back together.  

It was actually so funny. I can’t remember what we were watching. My partner and I were watching something, probably Slow Horses. And I said,  “You know what? I would love to do something in the streets of London.” Because I’ve never actually filmed anything out on the streets of London, and obviously Slow Horses is all set on the streets of London.

 I said, “Do you know what? I would love to do something like this.” Two weeks later, Criminal Record came in.

That’s a great example of manifestation!

Yeah, a manifestation. I don’t really use that word that often, but it’s, it’s hard to think of any other word to describe it but manifestation.  I mean, it was so, it was so fun to do that. And it was nice being so close to home. My work takes me all over the place.

Even with Rivals, Bristol is over three hours away from where I live. So it was nice just being 45 minutes away.  Also just working with incredible people You do have big boots to fill. Um, and it was, it’s always a little bit daunting starting anything, you know. It always feels like the first day of school. But, um, but no, I honestly had just the most amazing time doing that

Well, it was great to watch. JP was such a great addition to the team!

Yeah. Well, that’s good. We’ve done our job properly, I guess [laughs].

It is funny, because I never know what you’re going to do next. You are either the loveable sweetheart, or an arsehole, the good sidekick. So it’s tricky when trying to think of a tagline.

Oh, well that’s good. That’s good to know! I think that’s a really good way to start. “You can’t pin him down. He’s not typecast.” I think it’s important to try to vary what you do and don’t sort of get pigeonholed.

I’ve always been attracted to material. I think if the material is good, you know – be it comedy, be it drama, be it action –  I think if the material is good, that’s what will grab me. I won’t say no to something because I’ve done too much of that sort of genre before. I think if, for me, it’s always been looking at the material and script. It is better to have a small part in something great than having a big part in something that isn’t so great just because it’s a different genre to what you’re normally part of. If you can find sort of different nuances and different sorts of ways of, of sort of putting that across, then, you know, that’s just you’ve, you’ve hit the jackpot really.

Yeah, because I loved you as D’Artagnan and then JP, I wanted to slap him!

Go on, keep, make sure you get me on this side!

I mean, we need you as another sweetheart, like in The Borgias! Wait, I’ve figured out your throughline – your characters can’t stand married couples!

(laughs) Yes, that’s it!

You’ll read a script and see a married couple and you’re like “not on my watch!”

 Not on my watch! Absolutely not, yeah.

Well, not to be typecast, you are going to be in The Day, a heist thriller around the end of the year! It sounds so exciting. What is it like working on something that is set within the constraint of well, one day?

It was great. The timeline of the day is sort of the beauty of it all. From the moment you meet the character, there is so much going on mentally. As you point out, its all over 24 hours, you see them start to unravel, and they start to, he just starts to lose it because, well, he is tired. You just see everything sort of start to fall apart, become a little bit more unhinged.

Shooting it was a challenge, because it was shot in chronological order, so you have to pick up where you are mentally. We were up against it time-wise too, we shot an eight part series in around three months. Compared to something like Rivals season one and we had about six and half months! But the chaotic schedule really reflects the chaos on the page. Does that make sense? It sort of really sort of worked that we had to try and get this done quickly.

And I’m guessing the crew and cast were really great?

It was brilliant. Ryan and Andy Tohill, our directors, were amazing. I think they’ve done such a really good job with bringing that script to life. And working with Louisa Harland and Ryan Hayes was brilliant.

Obviously, the first time I’ve ever worked with Minnie as well, which was great. She’s amazing.  I’m looking, really looking forward to audiences seeing this one because it was kind of like against the odds. Let’s hope people enjoy it.

Finally, what are you enjoying right now?

So I’m watching Slow Horses, series six is so good; most series have an ebb and flow but they just keep getting better. I watched “Deadpool,” I watched “Deadpool” last night. I’m watching “War” on HBO and then “The Traitors,” “Celebrity Traitors.” Me and my partner sit down and really get into that.

I recently just watched Wasteman, with David Jonsson, Tom Blyth and my dear friend Alex Hassell, he’s in it as well. It was just brilliant. Just really honest British drama, sort of really under-pinned characters, on the edge of your seat sort of stuff. I loved the way it was shot. I thought the performances were great. I loved the story. The writing was excellent.

The first three episodes of the second half of Rivals season two premiere tomorrow.

Interview Michaela Makusha

Photography by Pip

Styling Racheal Perry

Hair/Grooming Liz Taw

Makeup Justine Jenkins