Liitle Bird's Hugh Skinner explains why Anaïs Nin’s stories are perfect for the small screen

Hugh Skinner seems to be making a habit of dressing in glitzy outfits in exotic locations. When we spoke two summers ago, the actor — best known as bumbling intern Will in W1A and hapless ex-boyfriend Harry in Fleabag — had just returned from Croatia, where he spent a fabulous few weeks dancing to Super Trooper in blue satin dungarees as a young Colin Firth in Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again!

This time, the destination was Tarifa in Spain, modelling as 1950s Morocco for bright and steamy new Sky Atlantic drama Little Birds, and though the costume department contained rather less spandex, there were plenty of sequins. In episode one, Skinner’s character, bumbling British lord Hugo Cavendish-Smyth, is seen greeting his fiancée in a cream linen suit and suave tortoise-shell sunglasses, and he’s later seen lounging in a glittery dressing gown.

“It was a sensational look,” laughs Skinner, 35, showing me his new haircut over Zoom from his flat in Brixton. He trimmed it himself. ‘I’d grown these lovely kinks at the sides, sort of like Jennifer Aniston in the Nineties,” he says of his earlier lockdown locks. “Now, it’s a bit more Anne Boleyn.”

On set last year, Skinner’s haircut was rather more conservative. Set in 1955 in the famous international zone of Morocco’s bohemian port Tangier, the series follows the story of Skinner’s on-screen fiancée Lucy Savage (Juno Temple), a wealthy and naive American heiress who is “ready for love and marriage in exotic climes”. We first meet her leaving her parents in New York while her handsome and penniless aristocrat fiancée, Cavendish-Smyth, is introduced in a relationship with an Egyptian prince out in Tangier. “So yeah, not ideal,” says Skinner of his character’s situation. “But shortly after that he gets involved in an arms deal, so it really is a case of increasingly poor decisions.”

The six-part show is inspired by a series of erotic short stories penned by American-Cuban-French novelist Anaïs Nin and exposes a world of erotica and bold, free-thinking personalities. Early reviews have lauded its dreamy, kaleidoscopic aesthetic and called it ‘Sex in the City meets Normal People’ for its boundary-pushing storylines. “All of the characters are, in some way, outside of society’s norms and taking ownership of their situation,” says Skinner, who is openly gay but whose character is forced to hide his sexuality.

He found it a shocking history lesson. “In the fifties post-war, the ideals of marriage and family were held in higher esteem than ever and being gay was often front page news... I think because everyone [in the cast] had something that related quite strongly to the character they were playing, we had lots of big discussions [while filming]. We got on disgustingly well.”

Filming took place last year in Spain and, less exotically, Manchester. “You’d walk into this hanger on an industrial estate and find yourself in 1950s Morocco,” Skinner recalls. Billie Eilish’s new album had just come out “so there was lots of dancing to that in the corridors” and their first cast night out was spent bowling. For the outdoor shoots, Skinner’s character had rather fewer appearances so time in Spain was mostly spent in the sun and going out for tapas. “There was this Russian prawn potato salad thing…,” he salivates at the memory of big cast dinners. “It doesn’t sound extraordinary but it was mind-blowing.”

Since then, Skinner has continued his series of posh bumbling Brit roles: a reappearance as Harry in last year’s Fleabag series, and parts in Steven Berkoff's Tell Tale Heart and The Windsors, but he wasn’t on a job when lockdown hit in March. Instead, it’s been a quiet quarantine spent acquiring new hobbies: papier mache model-making, perfecting the art of fish finger tacos, and - most surprisingly - testing himself on GCSE maths papers after watching a documentary on Fermat's Last Theorem. “When you remember something it really is game-changing,” he laughs, after I question the fun of it. “I couldn’t recommend it enough”.

Like the rest of the nation, he’s enjoyed plenty of TV. Favourites include Spike Lee’s Pass Over on Amazon and Stacey Dooley’s Glow Up on BBC Three, though he hasn’t got round to Normal People yet because he “sort of missed the boat”. Sally Rooney’s cult series was praised for its sex scenes, which were coordinated by an intimacy director to ensure the cast were comfortable - did Little Birds have one on set?

“We didn’t. I’ve never actually worked with one so I have nothing to compare it to,” says Skinner, whose first appearance in the series is in the nude, frolicking on a beach with his secret boyfriend. Skinner insists director Stacie Passon was clear and open about intimate moments on screen - her work includes Emmy Award-winning comedy Transparent which has “the best sex scenes” - and he felt comfortable with his fellow cast members. Though “it’s always a bit weird between shots when you’re sitting there with a sock over everything.”

Skinner says he struggles watching himself on screen and admits he hasn’t warned the family about the intimate scenes. Another sex-heavy series he filmed in 2018, ITV’s Harlots, is due to come out soon on BBC Two. “I’d better call up my granny,” he jokes.

Would he be up for a third Mamma Mia film, rumours of which were swirling last month? Of course, says Skinner. “But I’ve been thinking about this long and hard: isn’t the whole point of the story that [Donna] basically never sees [Sam, Bill and Harry] again?” He fears this matter of plot might scupper his chances of a second appearance but insists he won’t give up hope. “I think it would only be fair to go and see [my character] Harry in a gay bar somewhere.”

Skinner is naturally concerned about the state of the arts industry in the wake of the pandemic. But he is hopeful: he’s counting down the days until his local cinema, Brixton’s Ritzy, reopens and hopes the theatre industry can begin its comeback as soon as possible. “It’s really terrifying,” he sighs. “When [theatre] does come back, hopefully it’ll be more self-consciously live or they’ll try new things - or the opposite,” he wonders. “Maybe we’ll be so excited to be there they’ll come on stage and do a fart and we’ll all love it... That’s what I’m going to do next.” Hopefully, in a fabulous sequined suit.

All episodes of Little Birds are available from Tuesday, August 4 on Sky Atlantic and Now TV.