It is unusual to be playing Tom Jones, actor Solly McLeod says

“I thought, ‘That’s not going to work,’” the blond Scotsman says with a smile.

Then he was clued into “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling,” the comic novel by Henry Fielding. In the book, Tom is a lusty adolescent who falls in and out of love with a number of women.

“He’s just a kid…he needs to work through this behavior and grow out of it,” says Gwyneth Hughes, the screenwriter of the new “Masterpiece” version.

In the Oscar-winning film, Albert Finney’s Tom Jones was a bit older and more worldly.

“Our Tom is a lot more innocent and naive,” McLeod says. “He’s kind of led astray a little bit more, whereas Albert Finney’s Tom had a feeling you kind of knew he knew what he was doing.”

Because he didn’t want to be influenced by Finney’s choices, McLeod didn’t watch the 1963 film until after he had completed his version and was flying to the United States to promote it.

“I didn’t want to have any worry or doubt I was maybe the wrong person for it,” he says.

Because there are 60 years between the two editions, it’s likely a younger audience wouldn’t have seen the first, Executive Producer Susanne Simpson says.

“His innocence and naivete reminded me of me when I was younger,” McLeod says.

To lean into this new Tom, “I kind of imagined him as if my life had been going one way and then, maybe at 10 years old, I’d split off. I imagined my life had gone down a different path. That’s where Tom would fit in.”

When McLeod was 8, “I remember my granddad showing me the ‘Star Wars’ films and I kind of understood, ‘Oh, it’s people pretending.’ I knew then I wanted to be an actor…and I never lost that feeling.”

Luckily, McLeod’s parents supported his creativity. He acted in school, too, but when he told classmates he was going to become an actor, they laughed. “It was almost like they thought it was a waste.”

Undeterred, he pressed on. “I didn’t give myself a Plan B. It was going to be this or nothing.”

After school, McLeod made films with friends while he supported himself working in a café. “I was seen in a showcase in an acting class and, from there, it just started progressing.”

Roles in “The Rising,” “Outlander” and “House of the Dragon” came quickly. That led to “Tom Jones.”

“There was always a worry… but I never sat with it long enough to think, ‘This is not what I should be doing,’” he says. “I learned something from every job I got.”

McLeod was surprised how long it takes to get three minutes of footage for a series. “You can spend days or a week for five minutes,” he says. “It’s intense.”

To convey Tom’s nervousness – or self-assurance – McLeod focused on the way he would stand, depending on who he was near. “What kind of posture would he have when he was dancing or fencing or talking to one of the women he was seduced by?” Different audiences meant different stances.

None of that was evident when he was auditioning. All of his “Tom Jones” auditions were on Zoom.

Now, as “Masterpiece: Tom Jones” is about to premiere, McLeod knows life could change drastically.

“I just take every day as it comes,” he explains. “I don’t go into anything with any expectations.”

Eventually, McLeod could see himself writing or directing. “But I’ve got to establish this side of things before moving on to something else,” he insists. “Nothing’s impossible. Nothing’s out of the picture, so we’ll see.”

“Tom Jones” airs on “Masterpiece” beginning April 30 on PBS.