Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe - S12 EP38: Eddie Marsan

Episode Date: May 15, 2026

Joining us this episode to discuss the highs and lows of parenting (and life) is the brilliant actor - Eddie Marsan. No Ordinary Heist  is a Sky Original release in May. Prisoner  will be coming on Sky on the 30th April. Parenting Hell is available to watch on Spotify every Tuesday and Friday. Please subscribe and leave a rating and review you filthy street dogs... xxx If you want to get in touch with the show with any correspondence, kids intro audio clips, small business shout outs, and more.... here's how: EMAIL: [e-mail] Follow us on instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@parentinghell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sales, advertising, and general enquiries: [e-mail] A 'Keep It Light Media' Production  (Copyright 2026) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Pizza Express. Now serving up after-school club, a selection of Pizza Express favourites for just £5 each. Available 3 to 5 Monday to Friday. It's a tasty way to reclaim those family moments that's kind on the wallet too. Oh, Rob, also, you get the after-school meltdowns, don't you? They do.

They're hungry, they're tired, one wants to sit in the front, one wants to choose the music. Or, oh, you've brought the wrong snack, or you get home and they want to watch different things on TV. Josh, when the kids come out of school, and like they just throw their bags at you, say I'm hungry, arguing of each other about who sits wearing the car.

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visit pizraexpress.com terms apply. Hello, you're listening to Parents in Hell with... Mayve, can you say Josh Whittickham? Wittaker. Can you say Rob Beckett? Rob Beckett. And can you say Josh Whittaker? Josh Wittickick.

He sounds about 26. Yeah. Well done. Miles is five. Maeve is two. I think five, you know. Yeah. It's a bit old for that, isn't it?

My husband and I have listened to your podcast from the very beginning after hearing about it from my mom. Oh. When she hears this intro, she will 100% shed happy tears. Oh, that's nice. Oh, that's nice. As we didn't tell her we were doing this. Stay sexually relatable, Sarah, 397 months. Jordan, 395 months from Ipswich.

That will be nice because imagine just watching, listening, and you hear your grandchild. Amazing. The big question is, will they recognise? That's the only time you hear your grandchild on a podcast, and not panic. They might have a question on the rest of entertainment. No, no. Your grandchild, texting in to say, how many days did it take to film something,

special everyone someone's grandchild oh here we go did you go it's quite wise wasn't it during that I realized that my jacket is filthy that's okay we're busy guys can I take my jacket off Michael or will I strobe I think we'll be all right won't me it's up to you I think you'll be fine take your jacket off mate I don't know what the rules I was strobing well it can look a bit and not don't move your body like that what well you all know you're strobing yourself well you strobing yourself off you're shaking your jacket off on the floor cat I've got a piss on

how are the cats by the way great actually we have to take them out of the bedroom you have to take them out of the bedroom so last night um a squish and squeeze your bedroom yeah yeah exactly and you're all in the same room still love it have you got a mattress

on the floor yeah a proper bed mattress no you've got to do that I know except your fate you're on the floor but at least have a mattress except my certain fate yeah it's too permanently this is about three years you've stepped on the floor I know. I quite like it. I can't imagine ever going back to a bed. Is anyone else still sleep on the floor? Let us know.

It's the longest you've slept on a floor for? Not in a bleak way. Or someone that was held captive. Yeah, yeah, Terry Waite. Anyway. Anyway, Terry Waite's my go-to reference for hostage. Yes. Give me some other genres.

Damien Lewis in that TV show. The Hostage. Was it called that? No. No. It's called something else. Give me some other genres. of thing and I'll tell you who my go-to references. Okay, attractive lady. Cindy Crawford.

Is it like, who do you think you are? Cindy Crawford. Cindy Crawford. Cindy Crawford. Okay. Tough man. Ross Kemp. This is a great game. Okay.

Someone a bit silly. Joe Piscolley. Nice. Super intelligent. Super intelligent. Carol Vorderman. Clumsy. Clumsy.

Um, Mr. Bean. I thought you'd know Frank Spencer. Oh yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, yeah, I could have gone with it. A sexy man? Sexy man. David Gandy. Good singer.

Good singer. Beyonce? Um, yeah. This is a good one. I'm not thinking. This is your first thing. I'm trying to think of, if you got any more, Michael, do you want to throw in? Bad boy.

Bad boy. Yeah. Um, Darren Day. Good person, kind heart. Oh, Dame Judy Dench. James. Like Mother Teresa. Yeah, Mother's a Rees.

Someone a bit cool and edgy. Oh, I think the Sleafed Mods. Oh, someone who's dangerous. Reggie Cry. Boring. Boring. Oh, that's a good one. Who's boring?

It's hard when the reference points yourself. Ha! ha! I didn't fuel to the Reddit fire. get on. Someone who's boring. I would go with Steve Davis. It's a very neat, short of end diagram of your reference. I love it. It's great.

Well, on another intro, we'll do yours. But we have a proper... Do you know what? If I was to say, National Treasure, you might say this person as you go to reference. A Hollywood star. Hollywood star. This is exciting because, let's be honest. Work with the big East. Scorsese.

In six years of doing this, you have to work through a bit of chaff. Yeah. And today we've got all wheat. All wheat of bics. Exactly. All to all wheat. Four kids as well.

Four kids, perfect. Brilliantly talented actor, Eddie Marzen. Is it Marsden or Marsden? Marsden, I think. Yeah, I always thought it was Marsden, but it's Marsden. Yeah, it's Marzden. Is that Chris Marsden, the bald footballer? Exactly, yeah.

That's what's done me. If you said bald footballer, that's where I'd have gone. Long-air footballer, Darren Peacock. Ginger person Paul Skulls but that might be because I'm already thinking about football Yeah so okay yeah I'll do some other ones yeah

Tall person We're rolling Are we rolling? Eddie Yeah Yeah It's not great scott Normally when you're rolling

You were in character Yeah I am yeah Do you like being yourself Or you're one of those actors that hates being I don't mind being myself I like disappearing it's what I do and I quite like that initially when I first started

I thought I was going to be the next Tommy Steele you know like like Carries mate cocked me and then I realised very very early on that I was going to be Long Cheney junior yeah and she'd play all the monsters so I thought I might as well earn a few bucks

So how are you out in public though Because you know you've done so many films now You're so known and loved Do you find that a bit overwhelming When people recognise you want to talk to you when obviously you like disappearing and being a character. You know what's funny is people who recognise me for different things. Yeah.

I mean, a lot of people recognise me for Ray Donovan. Yeah. And specifically go over to the States. Ray Donovan is a big thing. But over here, some people recognise you for the mightily thing, and they want to sit down and talk to you about the artistic credentials. Yeah, yeah. Serious chats.

And then a lot of the youth know me from Hancock, so they just want to talk to me about Wolf Smith. And you talk about that, you know. A flat, Pete. They've been peaked after the Oscars. Yeah. Yeah. They said,

what would you have done? If you was Chris Wright, I said, I've had him or he. I've done him again. I've done him again. Right, so how many kids you got?

You've got four kids, yeah. I've got 15 year old, 17 year old, 20 year old and 21. Wow. So they're, have some of them

flown the nest? Yeah, my two oldest have flown the nest are at university and drama school. Both of them? Yeah. And he's about to, my 17 year old's about to go into university

and my 15 year old's about to do A-levels. And when you've got someone going to drama school, do you think, oh my God, it's a tough industry? Or do you think amazing? I'm so proud of them. I don't think they realise how tough it is. Yeah, because they've seen someone say it'll throw it. Yeah, they only see working actors.

They don't realize how tough it is. Also, they must see you being you, which is like just a normal dad go enough to do something and go, well, if he could do it and he's that bloke and do it, and he's that bloke and do it, and the funny thing is, because when your dad,

there's a funny thing, when your dad, you're quite useless at home, I mean, I was away so much, my wife kept it all going, so when I came home, I just fitted in, I'm quite useless. So whenever they consider what I do, they think, well, he is useless. Yeah, you know.

They've seen you at your worst twice days. They've seen me at my worst. So they kind of go, well, you know, If he can do it, I can do it. I remember being in Bethelgren, and there was a guy with, he had a drug addiction, he used to be on the street.

And he came out to me, Bethle Green, went, hey, I don't want to ask you about acting. Because I looked at you and I thought, well, if he can do it. Well, that representation is important, and you've done a lot about that, about working class people being in the arts.

I think that's so important because, you know, if you can see someone else doing it, then it looks achievable rather than it being totally alien. For me, I used to love Billy Conley and Richard Pryor. but they felt like such he was obviously like a folk singer and from Scotland which when you grab me south-east Londoners like this crazy guy. It's not a huge amount of similarities between your act and Billy Connolly's exactly. And Richard Pryor are these mad stories about growing up.

But neither of them were anything like you. But when I saw Alan Davis and Peter Kaye talking about dogs and baked bean juice and biscuits and all that, I was like, oh, there's a world, like these are talking about things I understand and maybe I can do it. So like, you know, for your kids, like, it must be weird that, you know, they're going into a world now where they're going to uni and studying and stuff like that

and they're growing up in a totally different way to how you grew up. Well, one of the hardest things about for me being a parent is I come from a completely different background to the ones my kids living. So sometimes you don't realize how alien it is. When my boys come from Westland, I went to quite a posh school, and they play football

and all the other dads would be like, Oh, well done, Jasper, well done. And they'll be on the, like, go on the post, boy, top phone, go on, accuse you to get stuck his son. One day with my son, my, my, my oldest son, my daughter's the oldest, but my oldest boy, he was in the middle of a football ground, he stopped, he stopped running, he said,

Daddy, Les Cockney, Les Cockney. You've got range, haven't you? Come on. Can you disappear from it, Dad, at the moment? Let's come back. I was listening, my dad used to have his fagging at, his man. Got a boy and I was literally my father for a minute Yeah, gun boy, boy, but

My dad had We had a neighbour called Roy the boy Is a cab driver and he had his cab It was perfectly keen about cab driver And it had done 300,000 miles Right And this was I lived sort of near Mottenham Elton way And I had a girlfriend in Islington North London

Oh right big shot Yeah, don't want to show off but I've had girlfriends You're throwing away at Jimmy Exactly At the angel And he come up to me and he was so That generation of people He might have been about your dad's

age actually he come up when what you going up to North London for boy it was like going all the way there for a girl but that boy boy it's like that's what I died off a little bit yeah yeah yeah do you say I came up in this situation you're in this time and the worst thing I did was to tell my kids that because I left school at I left school at 15 before I was 16 because I didn't really do any GCSEs so I got no qualifications and I thought I thought that would inspire them because I was giving them a good life. And I said, look, you know, I, and but soon realized that they would say to me,

Daddy, you don't know what you're talking about because you never did exams. So there is a point where I was just useless. Yeah. There's nothing I could do, you know. And even like doing drama at school, I can't really give many notes because I'm not really a, um, a, um, an experienced actor. I'm just daddy and daddy's useless. Really?

Did you go up through drama school and stuff? I wanted to do it work. I eventually got into Mountview when I was... I was an apprentice printer initially. And I was in a club in Mayor Street in Hackney. And I was dancing in the club. And with my mate in Manuel. And Manuel was like tall St. Lucian of St. Lucian descent.

Look, it's gorgeous. And he ended up being a model. And someone asked him to be an extra in a movie. And he said, yeah, can I take Eddie? And they took me, and I was there. And I saw Jamie Foreman, who became a friend of mine, do a scene on this dance floor. We had to walk across a dance floor.

and I suddenly thought, God, I want to be an actor, that's what I want to do. And that's how it started. So how did you then go to get into drama school and stuff? Well, first of all, me and in Emmanuel, I tried to get in drama school, so Emmanuel coached me on, and neither of us knew what we're doing. So I used to be a printer, right?

So in printing, you got this thing called, I don't bore you, but printing is all about the chemical balance between the ink and the paper. Right. And when it's wrong, you get this thing called scumbing, where the paper gets dirty, right? Yeah, yeah. So on Shakespeare, you know in Shakespeare,

you've got a lot of commas where before words like there's a comma where they miss out the beginning of a word to put the iron big pentamer I didn't know what that was so I'm reading this thing

and I'm going to man look at a scumming on that I have no idea what I was doing and I tried for about four years to get in drama school eventually got in and then didn't want your boss

pay for you to go in yeah he was an East End bookmaker yeah he paid for he said what do you want to do boy and I said I want to be an actor he said well if you're get in, I'll pay. And he did. Oh, wow. That's amazing. He used to run a book in Waltonstone

Dog Track. Oh, wow. So it's a totally different child that your kids have had. Completely different. Completely. But they love going back to the East End. They love going back. They go back there. They go back. I got Emmanuel's mum, his mum. My kids go and see her at Christmas and they take her flowers. Oh, wow. He's still...

Oh, yeah. I'm still very much in touch with it. Yeah. My kids love that. It's funny. It's changed a lot, right? Not that my end. Oh. Once you get past Pelichies, it's still the same. I mean, up near Shoreditch, you saw, you know, hipster socialist walking around. There was twats that moved into Victoria Park. Yeah.

That was me, I left. I left. I've got back to Devon, my roots. This episode is brought to you by Expedia and Visit Scotland. Some places you don't just visit. They shape the stories you carry long after you've left. Start your story in Scotland this spring and surround yourself with blooming scenery, fresh air. And farm animals making their grand debut. Josh, can I tell you something I love about Scotland?

Please do. And it's going to shock you. Go on. We know how beautiful it is. We know the people are great. Oh, it's glorious. I'm into the food. Are you?

Talk to me. You don't think of it straight away. But when I was in Glasgow and Edinburgh, yeah, they do all the Scottish stuff, obviously. However, they also do the curry, like nowhere else I've been. I'd say it's the foodiest country in the UK. It's so good in Scotland. I think about this a lot. I went to Loch Ness.

How serene I felt on the edge of Loch Ness. I love the Highlands, Rob. It's beautiful. It's beautiful, Rob. Pick a home. and explore from there. Deep dive into the local food scene, explore striking landscapes and discover deep history around every corner.

It's easy to get to, easy to navigate, and full of warm people who'll make you feel right at home. Start planning your own Scottish holiday today at expedia.com.ukuk slash visit Scotland. So four kids. Yes. And they presumably have come on, you know, you've been busy for, you know, 20 years, like super back to back, presumably.

And they've grown up on, they've grown up traveling. When we did, we did Ray Donovan, and my wife, bless it, was amazing. She had four kids under the age of seven. And she said, take them on planes over to L.A. to see me. Oh, my word. Like school holidays and summer holidays and be with me. And they were amazing. And they grew up on film sets.

They grew up in Culver City, we did Ray Donovan. They grew up around that, and they used to love all the food because they had a load of sweet. You could always tell when Eddie's kids were there because all the door handles in the studio was sticky because the kids were going on. And were the studio and the producer's happy for that to happen? Yeah, they loved it. It was encouraged. Leav had two kids. Dash had a kid. So we'd all have

barbecues. All the kids grew up together. It was great fun. Because your partner was a makeup artist. My wife was amazing. She's a writer now. She was a makeup artist. Yeah. So is that how you met? Yeah. And did she stop that one? The kids were younger then when you were working? She met me. Do you remember monkey magic? No. What was monkey

monkey? She picked it. You remember that? I'm not when it was dubbed. Yeah, yeah. I played to have a movie of that, and I played Pigsie. Right. So I was Pissy. So my wife did up in makeup. She ended up marrying the pig.

But the thing is, the boyfriend before me was like, good looking, and he was a model, and he had hit shots. So I used to put his photograph on the fridge, and me as a pig next to it. What you could have won? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And what are you like, Sadd, then? Because you seem

very affable and fun I can be a sergeant major one week and a hippie the next Can you? Because you don't know what you're doing, do you? No. You know, when you go to those parent carters when you're a kid and when you're about

your first kid and someone's read a book and they think, well, that's how you're doing, you think that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You make it up as you go along really. Yeah. All you can do is you just love them really, you know? Yeah. And they do see the worst of you and they see the best of you.

Yeah. You know, I mean, there's two of my kids don't get on And one of my kids the other day kind of got really upset and stormed out the house. And we didn't know where he was. And then the one that he doesn't get on with phone, he said, no, he's with me, don't worry. I got him. And you suddenly realize that there's connections you don't realize, you know. And it's really good like that, really.

Yeah. I got funny stories that I meditate because I suffered from anxiety. So I meditate every day. And I was trying to teach two of my kids, my two youngest, to meditate. They were like running one. And I said, right, we're going to meditate, boys. I said, I'm going to show you how to do it. And I sat down.

And I closed my eyes with them. And I thought, a couple of minutes, and I thought, this is going really well. And I was talking through it, closing my eyes. And I thought, they're really quiet. And I open my eyes. And the older one is standing. He's pulled his pants and trousers down.

And he's getting his willy and he's going, and the younger one is crying, crying, laughing. And the younger one is crying, laughing. You've got your eyes just taking them. Did you always want a big family like that thing? It must be exciting. Like, always stuff going on and like... Yeah, it's...

I mean, exciting, stroke, exhausting. Yeah, it's both... I mean, life's like that, though, isn't it? I mean, life... One thing you realize... One thing I've realized... One thing I've realized was that when I was younger and I wanted to be an actor,

I thought once I achieved that, I'm good... Life's just going to be... Happiness is going to be one-hour Yeah. Life's not like, life expands like a flower. It expands. So I love it, but it's also exhausting, stressful.

There's a responsibility. And being a parent is like that, isn't it? Yeah. The joy is one direction and it's amazing and the love you feel, but the anxiety you feel. I mean, I tell my wife to turn off that live 360. You know. Is that the tracker thing?

She knows where I had 21 hours. And I say, turn it off. Yeah. I mean, God, if my mom would have enough. where I was. There's no way. Well, yeah, 20, because I was thinking,

it's like you sort of have it when they're like 15 and they go to the shops at the first time. But when they're 21. Yeah, you think, you know, my sons are all over the place. Yeah.

You know, he's 20, he's 20's good looking boy. Girls love him, you know. I mean, honestly, when I was, when I was here, I couldn't pull a toilet chain and he's out, and he's out all over the place, you know.

So, like, now, because, like, when they're younger and you're in charge and he's like, come on set and follow us around. Now they're doing their own thing. How do you all come together as a family? Is there anything you do? Do you have special time together?

I do a Sunday roast. Sunday roast. So I do like to do a Sunday roast. And a friend of mine taught me how to do my potatoes. And I do my potatoes. How do you do potatoes? When you've got to do, you got to boil them. First thing in the morning, boil them and boil them.

And then leave them to dry for like three or four hours before you put them. So all the moisture goes out of them. So when you put them in the oven, they come out. They're really crisp and soft inside. Yeah. There we go. That's what you want. That's what you're doing.

In the view. Thank you. That's what you're on to promote, isn't it? Yeah. And also, as your kids, Mr. I'm having it. I was like Matthew McConaughey's,

you know, his viral, was it, it's a tuna salad he did? That's going to be our version of that. He's, he critic. What's his tuna salad? What's his tuna salad?

He's spoken about a tuna salad and he went viral and people made the salad. But we're a bit more of a dry potato kind of guys. Podcasts. Have you worked with McConaughey? Twice. Twice, yeah.

Twice. Twice. Twice. Twice. Nice now. I've met him. I had to Graham Norton with him. Did you? Yeah, it's our competition, mate. Let Eddie tell his story.

I just remembered. That's what we do, we get guests on and then we try it out, anecdot him. Yeah, who are you Matt? Go on, give me more. Give me more. Give me more. You met Robbys? I have. I'm feeling Eddie might beat you. No, I won't, honestly. I won. What was Scorsese like? He was all right. Do we do your story first?

Have you met him? No. What I mean is what was he like with you? Because when he was with me, he was... Chach. Chay. I can make your style I don't want it, Mark. How did you eat your potatoes?

He was all right. I remember I had nine months with him on Gangs of New York in Rome. Yeah, wow. He was fascinating. Wow. So would you be there for the whole nine months? Nine months.

Wow. That's pre-kids though, more or less. Pre-kids, yeah. My wife came out. It was wonderful. I proposed to her in Rome. Oh, wow. St. Peter Square.

I was in my pyjamas. We were both half-cut. I was in my pajamas. I lived on a road on the entrance to St. Peter Square. So all the saints were looking down the house at the Merriman Me and she was amazing Wow and what was Daniel Day Lewis like was he a laugh? Oh he's a laugh yeah was he Yeah he wasn't he yeah because he's known to be serious right? No people don't misunderstand what he does

People think that that when he's keeping in character they think he's kind of keeping the psychological and he's not what he's doing is he's keeping the physicality right the accent the physical stuff yeah you can him about have you read this seen this article in the Guardian Daniel? Yeah let's have a look you know you do that with this whole working class South East London thing yeah exactly I'm riding

you're Benedict Cumberbatchez's elder brother and I was put this on a stay in the road but it's just now podcast is coming on and social media's exhausting you're trapped I don't get rid of it now

just wanted Dr Roo and I fucking ride down do you talk to like really famous people that you say like McConaate would you sit around and go I'm having this problem with my kid, won't sleep or whatever. One of the things you talk about a lot is the logistics of being a parent

and the industry. Yeah. So what Matthew does is I think his kids come with him. Travel, you know, and he does that. But he's had to work that out. We all do. I mean, all of us have the same problems. Because it's a different, we're away for a couple of nights or a tall, it's non-stop for you.

You can wait for six months and you're trying to work out how to do it and how to get the kids out and when to get back. That's probably the big, that's the thing you talk about most of all the acting is easy. It really is. No, it is. It's the logistics of your life. So would people have their kids like educated on set and stuff?

Yeah, yeah, a lot of the crew do as well. Sometimes you go and, I remember going to doing Miami Vice with Michael Mann and walking past this hotel and realizing that all the crew and their families were in this one hotel. So they would all have like homeschooling and then they'd have periods off where they're all going to jump in the pool and it was a great life for them.

How did you manage that then? You know, when they were back in school, school, you know, it's easy when they're under five and they can come over. But when they're in school and they've got their own lives and clubs and stuff. I was doing a film with Stellan Scarsgard, who had a load of kids who are now big movie stars. And when I was very early and I had young kids and Stella had kids. And his advice to me was, Eddie, when you do a film and they want to put you on a hotel, which can be quite expensive, don't ask for a hotel.

Ask for a house and have extra room. So when your kids come and see you, they can bring their friends with them or their cousins. So they can bring their lives with them. Yes. You know what I mean? He said, that's the best thing to do. And I've done that ever since, really. So have you seen these kids grow up in, like, other people's kids grow up?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And the thing is, people don't realize, they're all good parents, you know. Because it's a weird old life to choose yourself. It's weird. And you were saying before we start, you're booked up till next summer now, aren't you? Yeah, yeah. So you're on, and you have promo and stuff. Is that quite fun when you get to do promo because you're back home in the evening?

you go out in a day and doing the... I'm always prepping one... Oh, you're going to do that fucking podcast list. Two pricks. Ironically, you're promoting prisoner. I was very excited. My kid's very excited

I'm coming to see you too. Oh, really? Yeah, they love it. I ain't got a clue that you are. No, it's lovely. But you're always... You're always prepping one, well, shooting one.

Preping one, shooting one and promoting one. It's like a... It's like a... Always. Right. And if you turned down, drop, like, would you, if you were, if you were a year in Australia or something, would you go, I just can't do that? No, I've been asked to do things and I think I was approached to do the Rings of Power when they first went to New Zealand and I said, no, I'm not going to do that. But now they came back to the UK and then they asked me to do a season.

I'll see, yeah, I'll do it, you know. Yeah. And then I, and then I'll go. Do you think that's why they came back? I think, I think they came back for me. we just really want Eddie for the yeah but it's all it's all you know it's all very um

it's the biggest challenge is marrying your career and your family life the biggest achievement when we finished nine years of Ray Donovan I suddenly realized as a family we were still together that was the biggest achievement above and beyond anything else so how often

like how often are that work with like your partner and stuff like how often are you getting back and forward or are you out there full time and they come visit? No what happened we went at the first season I because they were they were making the show and they would and the show was just beginning yeah my wife had to come out like she would come out a week before the school holidays and a week after yeah with the kids and would be at home and the school would give them work to do and they'd do the work and then they'd go back but we

realized that the kids were always jet-lacked yeah so it wasn't a great idea second season we moved out there and we lived out there and then my oldest son um developed well he we'd really realised he had Tourette's. Yeah. And he has quite, quite, streamed Tourette. So we realized that we needed

a support network and we didn't have it. So we came back the end of season two. Season three, they got a new show running, and I said to him, I'll,

can I commute back and forth? So they would allow me to go home at weekends. I'll go out to L.A., fly back weekends. And for school holidays and, like, Easter and Summer Holiday, my wife would bring the kids out.

So we managed to keep together. So you went back every weekend? Yeah. Because from LA to like... Yeah, yeah. Because when you just sleep in place, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Do you, because when you sign up to a show like that, you don't know whether it will be one series. You don't know. But presumably you're contracted for the... Yeah, they've got an option on you. They've got an option for like seven years. Bloody.

You've got to do years. They want you the day and day, have you, you, you know? So your new show, Prisoner. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Where was it filmed? In Cardiff. There you go.

Perfect. Lovely. The other one, no ordinary heist. That's going to go on Sky. It's out of the cinema this week. Yeah. As we filmed, but that's going on Sky as well. That was a true story in Belfast.

We filmed out in Dublin. A couple of nice little local jobs. You know, he's so good at this. The way you said, no, we did that. So that's coming out at the end of this week. And then Sky is the Sky original. So it's coming out later on in the year on Sky.

It's a great film. It's lovely. So what's the premise of that film, though? It's a true. It was based on a true story about in 2004, there was a Northern Bank robbery in Belfast, which is the bigish cash robbery in the history of Britain and Ireland. And what the robbers did was they kidnapped the security guard's wife. Yeah.

And the, no, security guards' mom and the bank manager's wife and threatened to kill them unless the security guard and the bank manager robbed the bank themselves. Oh, my gosh. And that's a true story. Yeah. And the security guard and the bank, I'm the bank manager. Right. And Ana Hardwick who played Roy Keene in his son. And he's, he plays the security guard.

But the funny thing is... Good-looking security guard. He's very good, isn't he? I mean, I was their thing. And so that's out now. That's out coming out on Friday, yeah. It's a lovely film. And it'll be on Sky.

Yeah, and I'm... Did he play Keene before or after that? Before that. He played Keene before that. He played Roy Keene before. He had a load of stories about it. You're northern Irish in that? I'm northern Irish in that. And are you Welsh in prisoner?

No, I'm, no, I'm kind of London in prisoner. Your accent, you can notice it, because you've obviously played it. It doesn't go in and out. It goes to East London. Then it goes to America. When I go back to East End, sometimes my wife can't understand what I'm saying. Oh, really? It really gets really strong.

And then I'm, you know, and I'm talking with a load of actors, and I sound like Stephen Fry. Is she got a working class background or more than class? No, she comes from, she comes from Windsor and, dashed. Oh, wow. Very nice. So when you even, before the kids, did you notice differences

in your upbringings and stuff and that kind of stuff? We went to see, my mum was married to a bloke called Charlie. It was a lovely bloke. And I took my, took my then girlfriend around to have a meal with him. And Charlie went to her, he's at a meal

and Charlie went, do you want an art? And she went, what did he say? I said, he said, do you want an after eight? Can you tell when you're making something if it's good? So if you're on the, if you're on Gangs of New York set, you're doing the odd scene,

you don't know how it all pieces together, you're kind of, you don't know how he's going to edit it. How much, when you're doing something, can you go, I know this is going to be a hit or I know this doesn't quite work? I don't know. I think you can only judge it by your own work.

I mean, it's very interesting. You know, sometimes I've worked with comedians, right, as in acting. Yeah. And the rhythm of comedians is a very short term. There's an immediate payoff because you can judge whether an audience likes what you have. Yeah, of course, yeah. So the rhythm of being a comedian is like you do something and you want to, you want to,

acknowledgement or reassurance immediately to judge how it's going down. There's no result at the end of a sense. So immediate result. I want immediate. reassurance, not just in comedy, just constantly life. Yeah. Especially sex. Yeah. How's that? Tell me now. How's that?

Is that okay? But acting is different now, I think. Acting is you've got to judge whether you're just, you've got to be, you've got to be true and then let it go. And then think, my job is just to be honest in what I do. Don't show off and step back and let them do what they want to do with it, really. Yeah. Yeah. And so when you watch things, do you get a bit? I hate watching things.

Do you? I hate watching things. I haven't seen prisoner. No, I haven't seen prisoner because I've just too no. I don't watch anything. I think, honestly, I think I'm, you know, I wake up in the morning and I think, and I'm offended when I look in the mirror. It's worked out for you. It's not like you go, and that's what's held me back.

Do you know what I mean? Like, you've not watched anything and it's all gone well. Yeah, no, I hate watching myself because I also, you always, you always, you are. also know what you're trying to achieve. You can see the cogs working, can't you? And when you get, you must have to do it at premieres though. And that must be once, you have to sit in a room with people. Although that's easier.

Is it? Yeah, because what happens is you tap into their consciousness. So if you watch it with a collective consciousness and you suddenly realize, oh yeah, so, because you're on your own, watching it on your own in a TV, it's terrible. Yeah. Because you're so self-conscious and you're so insecure, you know. Without naming names, have you sat in a premiere of your own film ever and thought, oh, this is shite.

I've done some, I've done some... Oh, God. Honestly, yeah, I've done some terrible stuff. Honestly. But the law of average is everyone else, right? Yeah, I'll be everyone else. And the funny thing is when people say to me, when people say, you make incredible choices.

I love the choices you might. I say, you should see some of the crap I didn't get. I literally auditioned for cats. Did you? And I didn't get it. No, and they gave it to Ray Winston. Oh, wow. And he played the part that I audition for it.

Oh, my. I can't believe you're still auditioning. I auditioned for cats because I'd never, I wasn't a singer. And I thought, well, yeah, I'd do that. And then Ray got it. And it's the kindest thing he's ever done for me. He took a bullet for it. He took one for the two.

You spoke about meditating and stuff like that. How much are you doing that, like, is that every day? Every day. And do you increase that time times when you've got a lot, a lot of high pressure, work coming in. If I'm doing like sometimes if I'm doing a long makeup job like on Lord of the Rings of Power

I would do 40 minutes. In the makeup show? I was sitting in a make up gym with headphones in or just on your own? There's a thing I wear you have bells and the bells every five minutes and it tells me to go to a different level or whatever. Is that transcendental meditation? No it's just breathing. It's really simple. It's not anything I don't like the word spiritual because it sounds a bit poncy, do you know what I mean? Yeah. So I To me, it's just, no, it's not.

I can be up if I want to. Do you feed off energy? I'm going to tell a new one if you do. I think you might. I've definitely heard you say you feed off energy. Oh yeah, I've fucking feast on it, mate. It's a buffet, didn't they? The only thing about energy,

in Bethlehembourg, who say, this boy, is radiators and there's drains. Make sure you're a radiator. Yes. But, no, I do it every day, and it's just my. mindfulness of breathing, really. Yeah.

Yeah. And it's been, for me, it's been over 30 years. It's been great. And I can feel it. If there's days when I can't do it for whatever reason, you can really, for me, I can feel it. My anxiety levels go up. So when you get up with your kids when they were seven, five, two and three,

or whatever they were, were you managing to fit it in? I'd get them to school and then come back and do it. Yeah. Do it, really. And sometimes when you're filming, it's quite easy. They get me in half an hour early. you know yeah so i i meditate a lot and i do it before my shows normally because i'd get to the i'll do the sound check and then i've got like an hour for the first 20 minutes is a bit of a lot yeah on stage just this is the fucking bell to ask what job you do all right

shut up you'll all benefit from this but so like and i i'd find that on tour actually which on paper should be the most stressful time i'm at my most peace because every day i'm doing like 45 minutes of it in the dressing room and when i'm get back home like you say this stuff that we struggle with a bit is that you have to try and fit back into family and you can't and the hardest thing about kids isn't that you're doing a lot is that you're doing nothing because you every you're tuned into their rhythm so for five minutes you're doing this and five minutes you're doing that and your brain is like wow wow yeah when you're at work you're focused on one thing so you can work 12 hours but because your mind is centered on one

thing it's less exhausting that's what i find and also you can say to people at work give me 20 minutes and much better for it. Whereas a kid, you can't go, right, just don't walk into the fire. I'm going to shut my eyes and meditate. Because my wife worked on film sets. She kind of knew how I was being treated, you know, being treated like a movie star. So sometimes she's like, she's at home saying, he's got a bad temperature and he's got, you know, he's got chicken pots and I'll be like, oh, I'm too sorry, but yeah, I'll have a mocker. I'm so sorry. That must have been so hard for her, though.

She knew. She knew I was getting looked. And are you talking to her when she's calling you about a kid having a temperature in the accent of your character? No, no, I come out of it. You come out of it. You're not that deep. No, no.

I can't put it to bed, I've got Parkinson's. She's funny. The funny thing is one audition for Ray Donovan. I went into Soho to do an audition. And it's a great lesson about playing someone with Parkinson's because you have to work out where the edges frame is.

So I did this audition. I thought, well, it's great. And my wife was, she's just wanking because you're literally like that. Because you're cut off. You're like that. So you literally have to do, when you're right,

don't have you seen me, I'm always shaking, envision. Because if you're not, if you're not, you're playing yourself. Yeah. Have you got any plans to slow down

and do less then, or you've still got that bug and hunger? Your kids have got out now, so surely... I don't know. I mean, I've just signed on to do a new, a series in New York for FX.

So that's kind of like, on a Ray Donovan kind of thing. Oh, so that could, if that goes, that could be a long. If that goes, that'll be years, you know. But in New York? It's a good place to be, though. Yeah, lovely. I'm doing my moment.

There must be actors that are in those things thinking, I could fucking do with the ratings dropping off here because I'm stuck for the next seven years. No. There must be people in history have gone, I'm stuck in fucking lost. Wait, if you know, there's certain actors, when you do it, you know, you're going to be a big star

and they want to get out and do, you know. Yeah. Like Pierce Broson was doing something, and he couldn't be James Bond, and he had to be James Bond. If you're trapped in the same show for years and years with the same co-stars on every single Friday night. There's no way out. Let's talk about Tourette's.

Are you all right to talk about yourself? Yes. So when did you first realise that he had Tourette's? Well, the funny thing is Dash Myhock, who played Bunchy in Ray Donovan, played my brother. He has Tourette's. So he was, he's a big advocate for Tourette's. in America. Yeah.

And we were on set one day and I said, I don't know what's wrong with my boy. Every time we sit down at a meal, he has to jump up, he has to sit up. And Dash was saying, how long has he been doing that?

I said, no, he's been doing it, he does things like all his life. What do you mean to sit up? Like, stand back up? He literally goes like that. It literally was doing this. It was a tick he had.

Yeah. And Dash said, he said it sounds like Tourette's. And he got us in to see some specialists at UCLA. And then they diagnosed, and we realized that he'd had this all his life but had been

suppressing it, you know. And then he came back to, we came back to London and there's times when it can be really bad. I mean, one of the worst times was when he was doing A-levels and me and my wife had to type for him because

he had a tick where he would just delete everything. So we had to type all his stuff and he's had some things where he really hurts his neck. So he He was so he suffered from that, but he was a good boy. He went on BBC television and spoke about it, and he was very nervous. And he went on with me and just to talk about, you know, for the Tourette's charity.

And I'm very proud of him. He made a, he made a film on A-level and made a film about having Tourette's. Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. And is there anything like, so how does it work in terms of how he lives with it and stuff? Is there things he can do to kind of help control it and stuff? He just explained, I mean, the interesting thing is. he's a drama school so when he's acting

and this is very common with people with Tourette's when they're doing like they play music or if they're drumming or if they're when he's acting he doesn't have tics it's when it's afterwards you get that with people with stammer us as well exactly exactly exactly the same

so for instance if he would have gone to that evening at the BAFTA's he would have been that would have been almost so stimulating for him he would have so what is it that stimulates if there's something in you there's a

There's a part of your brain that the best way to describe it is, I think, I mean, I don't have Tourette, so it's very hard for me to give it an existential description. But you know when you're in a tall building, you stand at the edge of a tall building and part of you thinks about jumping off. Yeah. That's your brain telling you to assess the danger of that, right? And it's like that. But Tourette's people have that when you say, when you want to say the worst possible thing, you'll say it. It comes into your mind, this could be the worst thing I say, and they will do it. And they can't stop themselves.

But it's not only vocal, only 10% have the vocal tics. The other thing is physical as well. My son will have terrible injuries to his necks and shoulders because of tics and things. God, that's so tough. Exhausting for him. And then was it a relief getting that diagnosis so that you can understand it? And then you could understand it. And Dash was brilliant because Dash was amazing because,

dash has when we're not filming he has quite extreme Tourette's and then when we're filming he would so what was funny was he would be act would be just about to act and he would be full of like physical movements because he had Tourette's and they go and I wouldn't and then they go action and then it'd stop and I'd start to know wow wow what an incredible it's amazing to talk about it as well raise the awareness of it so yeah yeah so yeah What are the kind of things that parents first notice of that then? Well, a lot of kids can have ticks. A lot of kids will have things, but if you have it for over a year,

then that's usually a sign that it's some kind of... It's a form of Tourette's, really. And also it's like it's on the same spectrum as ADHD and... It's on that spectrum. So it's like a flashing light for that. Yeah. Other members of the family is one. Right, right.

Yeah. Okay. Wow. But he's managed to go to film school. Yeah, he goes to drama school. Drama school, yeah. And he works on a flower store. He's been working on flower store since he was 15. And that's been one of the best things for him. Because he has to engage with the public.

And everyone knows him in the area and they know he has Tourette's and he's great. He's trying to reconnect with your working class roots? Yeah, yeah. It's not the same. I've got a barrow out and I... And so when he's... Because you say when you're engaged in acting, it stops. Yes. Is there other things, if he was really engaged with like, on the flower stall, would that take his mind off it?

So if he's like, is it like a hyper-focused thing or something that's... If you can focus your money, it's like people with, sometimes people with Parkinson's, if you ask them to, if you ask them to step over a brumstead, they can't do it. But if you put a brumstead in front of them, they will spontaneously do it. There's something about the way your brain tells you how to do things. So he's, it's worse for him when he's exhausted, tired, when he's stressed, when he's diet, he hasn't had good diet, things like that. Which, for a teenager, you're quite normal, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you have pot, when you're a student, you live on pot noodle for four years or whatever. And you're not sleeping, you're out.

No, you're not listening, yeah, yeah. And how about, like, with sleeping and stuff, so if you go to bed, are you, is he? No, no, he sleeps, he, my wife is really good with he sleeping, really made him, you know. It was very hard for him when he was jet-legged. That was another thing. Right. It was making it worse for him, yeah. Yeah.

It's a really good thing to talk about because you don't get many people talking about it. Did you feel like it was a thing you wanted to be a, like, oh, I've got a platform here to talk about this? Well, he's amazing. And he's been approached recently to do some more talking about it. He's very, he's very articulate about it. He's very brave because he was really scared about going on on the BBC News. Yeah. And I said to you, you know, I went on with him. And he was, in the end, you know, you're there just think I'm going to help you get through it. I just, I just had to shut up and he just, I was so proud. Just sat there beaming. Yeah, just sit there, where you go, and he was brilliant. Amazing. Incredible. Yeah, it's more important than ever, I think, to be vocal about that after what went on, which was totally unacceptable. Yeah. And some of the reactions to it were disgusting, really.

Yeah, and the contacted a lot about that then. Yeah, I came back. I was in Dublin doing a, because I'm a patron as a charity. the Tourette's charity. So I was in Dublin doing the premiere for an ordinary heist. And when I came back, I heard about what had happened at the Baptist. And then Christian Guru Murty and Channel 4 did a podcast with me and Dawn Butler. And we did a where we just talked about the experience of the black community and the experience for the Tourette's community. And the two truths exist at the same time.

Yeah, yeah. She was amazing. She's going to have the film, I swear, being shown at the houses of parliament. And it's really just taking the heat out of the situation. Yeah, because social media, social media can't deal with two truths at the same time. Yeah.

You can only do with one and not the other, you know. Yeah. And compassion is dealing with multiple truths, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Do you like that film? Yeah, it's amazing. I thought the performances were incredible. I thought the way it was written.

I was so proud. There's an amazing scene where, He's in a car with the girl, and you know that the girl has got Tourette's, and he hasn't, but he's improvising with her, and it's just incredible. Yeah. Yeah. I was so proud of that. I mean, it's done so much good for everybody, for the whole community, really.

Final question, Eddie. I love this. Yeah, it's been a joy. Because we were saying before, we've done six years of this. We do two episodes a week. We've had some chaff on. How do you do it when you're touring and stuff? You can do it remotely.

Oh, you do it remotely? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we've only just started doing it in person more recently. Right, right, yeah. To have someone of your level on is a real... My colour for us. Oh yeah. We wouldn't zoom you.

Nah, can't zoom you. Face like my, you warns. Do you think, like, you've got, like, a identifiable look, right? You are... Oh, okay. Oh, well, okay. I'm going to do you do this. No, no, but you look like...

You don't just look like a another person. Like, does that help you with parts and stuff? Do you think you are blessed with the... look of, let's be honest, we've both got quite kind of odd looks, which I think helps with us being comedians. So now you're calling him odd looking. I know, I'm saying that's us. I'll tell what I think. Distinctity. I look like the other. Right. And I think, and the way, especially within film, the way film is made is the protagonist. I think a film story is structured like a ghost train ride, right? Yeah. And the protagonist is usually quite good looking and quite neutral. And they become

so that they become an avatar for the audience to sit in with and see everything through their perspective. So they become the train on which the ghost train ride goes on, right? Yeah. And I play the guy who goes boo. Right, yeah. And that's what I do. Do you think that's a comedian thing as well?

Like, we, I think it's a huge disadvantage to be incredibly good looking as a comedian. I've managed. They're not old you, but. I've got to take it You've got to bow on Imagine the tickets you'd be saying You've just got to overcome those obstacles

Yeah Exactly It's true though Because like you have to I think in comedian You need a face that works for that Right Yeah

And I went to get some new glasses And they were trying to get me in like I always go see-through Because they'll get me in these big ones And I was like There's too much going on With my face already I've got the teeth

I've got the eyes The beard Yeah I don't need a big I don't like all the fucking guessoo At once on my head And they'll go, no, try these, I'm going to put them on. And she posted that laugh and I went, see? I've got a car went down. He's got more neutral.

Should I do the final question? Do the final question, Rob. Okay, so Eddie. I'm just going to just get rid of my glasses. There you go. Too much going on. Too much? No, you've got nice glasses.

Do you know what? I was delighted when I got glasses because I thought my face needs something. I punched the air. You look a lot more intelligent with your glasses. Thanks, mate. It's good as a lot of convenience do like that. I love that. Do you?

It's a little tick. Kenneth Williams. She's a funny little, just gets to ball over the line if it's a bit. Yeah. What's the one thing your wife does, parenting wise, where you go, she's amazing. I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have this person raising, you know, and giving birth to our children. And then what's the one thing she does as a parent? It's quite annoying and wind you up, but you've not mentioned it.

And if you were to, she may go, oh, he's got a point there. Even if she doesn't admit to you. She's amazing at organising everything. She organises the kids have had so much support like school and and they've had a great home life and she's been an amazing mum in that She everything to do with blues Tourettes and and other issues and and my kids have all done Academically much much better than I could ever imagine they made it 16 you pardon they've made it 16 that's it's true But she did earlier in the interview you did say you're 15 years doing A levels which I imagine No, it's about just starting easy

GCC's he was doing GCC but he's about to go into his air levels isn't he yeah so he's doing although my 17 year old is really bright he's doing he wants to be a quantum physicist bloody out i can't even say it where's that come from well his grandfather on my wife's side was a rocket scientist oh wow probably there then oh yeah probably yeah i'm not not the expert but wadley market he was a barrable whatley market oh the expert i reckon it's him yeah i'm lucky I became my lot, became cab drivers. So she's amazing amazing.

She's amazing at that. She's an amazing mother in that she's, every kid has been incredibly supported for individual needs. So she's got this amazing mind where she can do so much. I can't, I'm useless. I just come back and fit in, but she's been amazing at that.

The Greeks always say that we make we make vices of our virtues. So the opposite side, of that is sometimes if my if my if my kids are like if my son is doing an audition and I'll go right acting wise because no let me I'm yeah but I'm the mum so that's that makes me laugh yeah she's so across everything yeah even I even step back there yeah yeah I like we make vices of our virtues I've got heard that before it's nice saying isn't it yeah it's very true though

It's really true. Sometimes there's certain elements of people you think, I love that about him, but hey, they can't have one without the other, can you really? Sky? Are they both Sky? One's a Sky Original.

No one's a Sky Original film and Prisoner is Sky TV series. Drama, yeah. Oh, there you go. Yeah. It's been absolutely honour. Thank you. It's been lovely.

Yeah, it's been brilliant. Thanks so much. Thanks so much. Thanks, guys.