Tom Ellisisn’t afraid of taking his shirt off on camera.
The actor, who stars alongsideGina Rodriguezin the new Netflix rom-comPlayers, is known for his charismatic portrayal of the Devil incarnate inLucifer— and the character’smanytopless scenes.
He admits he “used to really get nervous” about removing his clothes onscreen, but since changing his philosophy around working out, he’s grown more confident in front of the camera.
“I’m not as riddled with insecurity in those moments as I used to be. It’s always gonna be weird taking the clothes off in a room with lots of people just watching you,” Ellis, 45, tells PEOPLE. “It’s not my favorite part of the job, but it is part of it. And you’ve got to get over it quickly.”
Within the first 30 minutes ofPlayers, Ellis’ shirt comes off for a hookup scene with Rodriguez’s protagonist Mack. Upon their first meeting, Ellis, as suave foreign correspondent Nick Russel, charms Mack with his good looks.
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K.C. Bailey/Netflix
He elaborates, “Coming out of that, you’re kind of riddled with insecurity that that character is so embedded in you that you can only ever play that character again.”
Players, his first film followingLucifer’s five-year run, tackles the impossibility of orchestrating a love story. The movie follows Mack, Adam (Damon Wayans Jr.), Brannagan (Augustus Prew), Little (Joel Courtney) and Ashley (Liza Koshy) as they try to turn Mack’s one-night-stand into a committed relationship.
For Ellis and his now-wife Meaghan Oppenheimer, the beginning of their relationship was all about timing.
A mutual friend of Ellis and Oppenheimer suggested that the pair meet, but Ellis says they “were both really flaky” about setting up a date. One night, the two ended up at the same restaurant for dinner. Ellis introduced himself to the writer and ended up joining the table. Since then, the actor says they’ve “not left each other’s sides” in almost 10 years.
“When the right person is the right person — and I said this when we got married — I felt like when I met her, I was like, ‘There you are.’ Like I knew her already,” Ellis says of Oppenheimer, 37.
“You can’t manufacture these things. I talk about a missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle. There is a certain piece out there that will fit, and I strongly believe in that. You can’t force anything into that. It’s got to have all the right little bits.”
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Today, he thinks his daughters would “rather curl up in a ball of embarrassment” at their father onscreen.
Playershas aValentine’s Day premiere. Does theLuciferstar have any plans with his wife for Cupid’s special day? Citing comedian Jim Jefferies, Ellis says, “There’s no man in the world who sees that Valentine’s Day is going up in the shops and goes, ‘Oh, it’s Valentine’s Day soon!’ ”
The pair will continue to spend plenty of time together, both at home and at work. Ellis says they are “very mindful of each other,” so Valentine’s Day–style activities happen more than once a year for them.
Players.K.C. Bailey/Netflix
On top of their quality time, Ellis has been tapped for a series regular role on season 2 of Oppenheimer’s Hulu showTell Me Lies. Of working on set with his wife, he has nothing but words of admiration.
“The good thing is that I have a huge amount of respect for Meaghan as a writer. I think she’s incredibly talented. I spend a lot of time reading scripts wishing I was in them, so this is a lovely job for me to be doing,” he says.
Playersis now on Netflix.
source: people.com
