Rachael Stirling says starring opposite Rob Lowe was "unreal" because he was her teenage crush.

Rachael Stirling

Rachael Stirling

The 42-year-old actress gets intimate with the 55-year-old actor in new ITV police drama 'Wild Bill'' and admitted she was very starstruck when they met as she and her friends used to fancy him when they were at boarding school together.

Rachael told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It didn't seem quite real. Bearing in mind, I was at an all-girls... boarding school, and one of the only films we were allowed to watch was 'St Elmo's Fire'.

"You had 500 girls who every weekend on a Saturday would watch it again and again. Rob was all of our heart-throbs."

And the 'Boy Meets Girl' actress - who is the daughter of Dame Diana Rigg and has a two-year-old son Jack with her husband Guy Garvey - said her school pals were incredibly jealous when they found out she was acting opposite the hunk.

She said: "My best friend said, 'Get the f**k out of here.' She could not believe it."

Rachael also revealed she came clean to Rob about her secret crush which made him howl "with laughter", and she joked "he didn't seem that surprised, to be honest".

'Wild Bill' stars Rob as American policeman Bob Hixon who moves to the UK and Rachael plays his love interest, barrister and judge Mary Harbour QC.

And the television star is delighted about playing a strong female character in the show who objectifies Rob and embraces her sexuality.

She explained: "She starts off thinking he's a piece of eye candy and probably good for a gallop. I get to objectify Rob Lowe a lot."

And commenting on their first love scene together, in which her character leaves the bedroom first, she said: "I'm just leaving, fully clothed, and he's lying there with his pretty glorious pecs on display. I like that.

"There's always more room for girls to be the ones doing the wham, bam, thank you, sir."

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