David Hemmings: 'He got his nose in a twist about it and we haven't spoken since'

'Blow-Up' actor David Hemmings has done it all (and lost a few friends along the way)

Sixties icons are a strange breed. Unlike stars of other eras who have either died young or veered off into obscurity, Britain's Class of 1960-'65 have by and large proved a resilient lot. David Hemmings is one who knows. As the star of Antonioni's landmark 1966 enigma Blow-Up, he became one of the leading figureheads of the famously "swinging" London that the film portrayed. A sprinkling of roles in further cult classics followed, including Barbarella and The Long Day's Dying and by the end of the decade, Hemmings had become a regular fixture in the tabloids – as much for his acting as his lively personal life, which consisted of hanging out with the Beatles, a stream of high-profile girlfriends and wives, as well as regular bouts of hell-raising.

Hemmings then seemed to disappear, only to resurface more than 35 years later as the decidedly camp Cassius in Gladiator. Since then he has hardly stopped working. He recently finished filming the much-troubled, long-awaited Scorsese epic Gangs of New York, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, who he has been quoted as referring to as "the only actor I have ever actively disliked." And over the years, Hemmings has certainly met more than a few.

Since he was launched into showbusiness at the age of five, he has been variously, a professional child singer, a fine artist, an actor, a producer and a director, and rather like a well-matured vintage port determined to show off its flavour, he wears his life's adventures in his whisky-soaked, 60-smokes-a-day actor-ish voice, in his portly frame and in his charmingly avuncular but slightly roguish manner. Not to mention the wild, runaway Dennis Healey eyebrows.

At nine, Hemmings was a professional soprano touring the country with the English Opera Group. By the time he reached his teens, Benjamin Britten had invited him to go to Florence and study to be a tenor, but Hemmings was already smitten by the lure of a film career and declined.

After a brief stint at Epsom Art School, (he had his first painting exhibition at 15), he dropped out to pursue film full-time and by the time Antonioni approached Hemmings to test for Blow-Up in 1965, he had appeared in close to 50 films. Terence Stamp had originally been considered for the role, but according to Hemmings, "for some reason or other Antonioni and Terry didn't get on" and Stamp was less than pleased to learn he had lost the part. "Terry immediately said 'David Hemmings – who's he when he's out?' Which was a bit unfortunate because Blow-Up was my 48th movie. He got his nose in a terrible, terrible twist about it and we've never really spoken about it ... I don't know him but I know that he does not have a great fondness for me, shall we put it that way?"

The character Hemmings subsequently created effortlessly blurred the lines between fashion photography and sex and swiftly gained iconic status. But Hemmings refutes the myth which has long since perpetuated that David Bailey was the inspiration for his role. "There is only one person who perpetrates this myth and that's Bailey. It was not modelled on Bailey. I love David, of course – he's a tremendous bloke. But he does keep on saying that I modelled my character on him and it's just not true. The person who gave me the most advice about how I should operate in the studio was John Cowan (whose studio we shot the film in). And David Hamilton was also very influential. But it would be nice to say that there's a little bit of me in there too, you know!"

Towards the end of the Sixties, Hemmings went to LA to film the medieval extravaganza Camelot and became a regular fixture on the LA rock'n'film royalty circuit, hanging out with Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and the Mamas and the Papas. He also married the American actress Gayle Hunnicut and set up home in Malibu. But apart from a sprinkling of acting roles in the Seventies, most of the following 20 years were spent producing and directing for American television, including a four-year stint in the Eighties directing The A-Team, which he says he loved. "My entire life I've enjoyed it. At no point have I not enjoyed it."

In the mid-Nineties, he returned to Britain ("I got divorced – it's always a good reason for a move!" he quips) and settled in Wiltshire with his fourth wife, Lucy. He then landed the Gladiator role – almost by chance. Two old friends who happened to be working on the film as assistant directors suggested him for the part.

He was consequently rediscovered by the international film world and has since gone on to star in Tony Scott's Spygame and Fred Schepisi's poignant Last Orders. Hemmings now divides his time between painting in Wiltshire and filming and is thoroughly enjoying both. Having spent so much time behind the camera, directing, now, "At 60," he smiles, "I can be a different sort of actor. I can be fresh again – which I love."

'Gangs of New York' is released on 10 January 2003