Tom Hollander reveals he won't open fan mail over fears he is Russian target trends now

Actor Tom Hollander has revealed he refuses to open fan mail as he fears he may be a target of Vladimir Putin's Russia. 

The White Lotus star, 55, made the revelation to BBC's Laura Kuenssberg when discussing his West End play Patriots in which he stars as an enemy of the Russian president.

Tom said he fears his involvement in the 'anti-Putin' play may lead to him being targeted by Putin or his supporters, who have previously attacked critics of the Eastern European regime. 

Tom said: 'What has happened is now that we are at war, I am more cautious about opening any post that comes from Russia'. 

'We are quite visibly doing a play that is broadly speaking Anti-Putin'. 

Going on to say: 'We are not doing a sweet Checkhov play. we are doing something about living figures who are in embattled with the West. So it's just a reason for not opening everything that comes in the post'.

He went on describe the play, penned by The Crown's Peter Morgan, as a 'morality tale'.

Adding: 'They were all patriots, Putin is sincere, he is a moralist.

'Berezovsky in his own way is a moralist, so is (Alexander) Litvinenko. All these characters who we learn about, they're all fighting over the soul of Russia and they all felt they were doing the right thing and therein lies the tragedy.'

In the production Tom plays oligarch Boris Berezovsky who famously fell out with president Putin before dying under mysterious circumstances in London in 2013.

The play's offical synopsis reads: 'With the dawning of a new Russia, there are winners and losers, and today's patriot can fast become tomorrow's traitor'. 

'As a new generation of oligarchs fights to seize control, Patriots follows billionaire businessman Boris Berezovsky from the president's inner circle to public enemy number one'.