Joely dates toyboy cowboy

On the television show where they met, Joely Richardson and John Hensley play mother and son.

At 39, the British actress is 12 years older than her handsome co-star.

But that has not stopped a romance apparently blossoming between the two.

'They have so far been seen out together twice - both times at cinemas in the Los Angeles area,' said a source.

'They looked very cosy and seemed to be having a great time, laughing and joking.

Judging by their body language, a romance certainly isn't out of the question.'

Kentucky-born Hensley, who spent three years working as a cowboy in Wyoming before turning to acting, plays Matt McNamara in the plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck.

Miss Richardson, the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and the late Tony Richardson, is his highly-strung mother, Julia.

The series, which is shown here on Channel 4, features graphic scenes of plastic surgery operations, as well as explicit storylines. In the

first series, Miss Richardson's character walked in on her son having a threesome with two female schoolmates.

This is not the first time Miss Richardson has been linked to one of her Nip/Tuck co-stars.

When the show began shooting in Los Angeles last year she accompanied Julian McMahon, an Australian former soap star who was once married to singer Dannii Minogue, to various red carpet events, starting rumours that they had become an item. Despite having achieved success on both sides of the Atlantic - notable roles include the film Maybe Baby and the BBC adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover - Miss Richardson's love-life has not gone as smoothly.

At the age of 24 she embarked on a fling with Scottish landowner Archie Stirling who was more than twice her age and also married to actress Diana Rigg.

Stirling subsequently chose his wife and teenage daughter Rachel over Miss Richardson, leaving her distraught.

In 1992, she married director Tim Bevan, co-founder of Working Title, the studio behind Bridget Jones's Diary, and gave birth to a daughter, Daisy.

Bevan left her for 24-year-old Amy Gadney and Miss Richardson filed for divorce in

1997.

A fling with Robbie Williams and a year-long romance with television presenter Jamie Theakston followed.