Sounds like every girl's dream. But where to find the actor to match this Adonis for the TV adaptation? Fortunately Stephen Billington strolled in with his woman-withering smile and the search was over.

He has already been called 'the next Hugh Grant', and starred in the BBC's The Buccaneers, Space Precinct, and Out of the Blue before landing a part in Mel Gibson's Oscar-winning, Braveheart.

But landing the part of Lysander, his first major lead, was a dream come true for Stephen. 'When they told me the part was mine, the initial reaction was "Yes! Great! I've got it!," followed pretty fast by "Can I do it?",' he admits.

Stephen, 27, left behind a career in hotel management to become an actor after meeting such legends as Sir Alec Guiness and Dirk Bogarde in London's Connaught Hotel where he was working.

His parents were far from happy with his decision. "They'd had such high hopes for me. I think they saw us getting a family hotel one day." They needn't have worried, as Stephen has barely stopped working since.

Being dubbed the next Hugh Grant is quite a responsibility, but the young actor has his feet firmly on the ground. "I don't think the sex-symbol thing is going to intrude too much," he says modestly. "I had a taste of what it must be like when we were filming Braveheart. We were staying in the same Dublin hotel as Take That, so I had a glimpse of how exciting it might be. Still, I don't suppose I'll ever find out." Don't be too sure of that.