Graham Kibble-White meets an American who could be the next big British TV star...

Love Soup is a new romantic comedy drama series by David Renwick, the creator of One Foot In The Grave and Jonathan Creek. It deals with the parallel lives of a perfectly matched couple who have yet to meet each other.

One half of the duo is played by 33-year-old American actor Michael Landes, who's best known for his appearances in The Wonder Years, The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and a short-lived stint in The New Adventures Of Superman.

"To be perfectly honest, before I did the show I had no idea who David Renwick was," he confesses. "When I read the script, I did so purely on face value, unbeknownst of what sort of a legend he is. But that only made it better that I so liked something which was from a really successful, intelligent man."

Working in Britain is certainly something that appeals to Michael, who grew up in New York.

"Here's the thing," he says, "the BBC is very prestigious from an American's perspective, so I'm a big fan of it. Also, I really love a certain kind of British humour which is that dry, self-deprecating, witty stuff, kind of like what The Office was.

"I also like those Richard Curtis movies, although I'm finding people here sort of make fun of them a little bit. So that on its own was incentive enough to come over here.

"In fact, I could potentially live here. I have an agent in the UK, but the problem is there are not enough American roles. Your country is so expensive, I couldn't survive, so I have to live in LA where I make a living for the most part."

In the show, he co-stars with Tamsin Greig. Well, kind of. Because the characters they play never meet. In real life the actors have enjoyed just a passing acquaintance.

"I've only ever seen her maybe a handful of times in my whole life," says Michael.

As a result, he says it feels like they're both working on separate programmes at the same time.

"When I watch the episodes, I look forward to seeing her stuff. That's like a whole other show for me.

"Going into work, the crew would become my gang because I was the person there, and then on her days it would turn into her thing.

"The crews here are a lot of fun, actually. One thing I've learned is that when you shoot something in the UK, there's always going to be somebody called Trevor on your set. And maybe a Nigel. Occasionally a Colin."

Instead of Tamsin, most of Michael's scenes involved Trudie Styler, who's perhaps best known for being married to Sting.

"The thing I'll say about her is, for someone who doesn't need to leave the house and doesn't need to work, she toiled harder than anybody else," reveals the actor. "She knew every line and she cared about the process. For me, that's admirable and you can't ask for anything more."

As for the show itself, he says: "It'll grow on you, I promise."

"If you stay with it, you'll be rewarded. The relationships all come such a long distance. I'm never proud or brag about something, believe me, but I watched the final episode and I was so pleased with where it goes. The emotional ride that Tamsin and I go on is great.

"Maybe the morons won't get it, but any half-intelligent person will definitely appreciate it."

One of the themes of the series is the notion that somewhere out there everyone has a perfect partner just waiting to be found. It's something Michael subscribes to when he thinks about how he met his

wife, actress Wendy Benson.

"You date people to practice and to learn and to grow," he says, "but for me everything was always a hang-up or there was something there that I felt was a bit off. When I met Wendy, though, there was no question. It literally was this effortless, 'okay, I need look no further'. For me, I knew right away."

"We met on the set of an independent political drama in

Boston, called Beacon Hill. It was a very boring film and we can't even watch it, but it was the best job I ever had."

Rather less obviously fulfilling was his stint on The New Adventures Of Superman.

"It did well from the start," he remembers, "although it wasn't a smash like Lost or something, it was a good sized hit. It wasn't a critical awardwinning show, but it had a built-in audience and I certainly felt I was part of something successful while I was doing it."

Michael played cub reporter and sidekick Jimmy Olsen.

"After the first year they replaced me because they thought I looked too similar to Dean 'Superman' Cain.

"That was when I was 21, and to be perfectly honest it was the greatest thing that ever happened in my career.

It's that negativeturnedpositive thing and I learned that in this business everyone is replaceable or interchangeable.

"Also, I would have sat on that show for four years being a fourth fiddle and instead I made four movies and five other pilots. I might have lost out on three years of money, but I gained much more in experience.

"There's something to be taken from every job. Sometimes on the awful ones I get more of an education about other areas of my business. I'm still learning all the time. If I wasn't I'd have to stop. As an actor it's very important that you always stay in that state of mind because it keeps you alive and present."