That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Danny Mays

Episode Date: June 6, 2021

In this episode Gaby chats to actor Danny Mays. They talk about so much of his brilliant work; ‘Des’ with David Tennant, ‘Code 404’ with his good friend Stephen Graham and the time he spent living & partying with Craig Parkinson, aka the Caddy from ‘Line Of Duty’. Plus, they talk about filming ‘Swimming with Men’ and spending two weeks in a pool gripping Rob Brydon’s ankle! Danny shares his experiences working with the directing greats Steven Spielberg on ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ and Sam Mendes on ‘1917’ and he has some really special advice for up and coming actors.  Produced by Cameo Productions, music by Beth Macari.  Join the conversation on Instagram and Twitter @gabyroslin #thatgabyroslinpodcast For more information on the sponsors of this episode: Grass and Co. - Find your calm 25% OFF, plus free shipping at: www.grassandco.com/GABYUse discount code: GABY at checkout. CALM - Special limited time promotion of 40% off a Calm Premium subscription at www.calm.com/GABY   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before we start this episode, I'd like to tell you about something rather exciting. It's rather fantastic and I'm getting very embarrassed telling you about it. But hey, what the heck. The British Podcast Awards are happening in July 2021. And they have a Listeners' Choice Award. And yes, you know what I'm going to say. Where you can vote for any of your favourite podcasts. Okay, I'm blushing.

I'm embarrassed to ask. But if you could very kindly vote for this podcast, we will love you. more, but we love you hugely. I don't know how that can get even bigger, but we really will. You simply go to Britishpodcastawards.com slash vote. And then please, if you wouldn't mind, type in that Gabby Roslin podcast to vote. That's Britishpodcastawards.com slash vote. And type in that Gabby Rosalind podcast. There we go. I'm embarrassed for asking, but there we go. I asked, oh no, if you can do it. Thank you. I just want to congratulate the team that make this podcast. That's the gorgeous

The Gorgeous Kate, it's cameo productions because, yes, we've all been nominated in the British Podcast Awards for the Military Wives, the official film podcast. And I just want to share my love for the team because I actually do love them. Now on with the show. I had the nicest time chatting to Danny Mays. We talk about so much of his brilliant work. Des with David Tennant, Code 404 with his good friend Stephen Graham and just living and partying with Craig Parkinson aka the caddy from Line of Duty Plus one of my favourite films

Swimming with Men, it's a joy and spending two weeks in a swimming pool grabbing Rob Bryden's ankle Yes, his ankle Also working with the directing greats like Sam Mendez and Stephen Spielberg And he has some really special messages for up-and-coming actors.

Hope you enjoy listening. Danny Mays. Hi, Gaffey. Just, you know, I'm going to start this whole thing just by, I hope Louise isn't too close because I just, I love you. And it's as simple as that. I've known you 17 years I just worked out.

Oh, really? We did that read-through together all those years ago. Is it that long? 17 years ago. Wow, that is a long time. You don't have just left Rada when we did. We did the weirdest run-through of the worst comedy ever. It was a sitcom, wasn't it?

And Alastair McGowan was there. What was it called? I can't remember the name of it. Oh, I can't remember. It was just awful. It didn't go to series then, no. It was awful. And there was Claudia Blakely.

Oh, yeah. Craig Parkinson was there, was he? Yeah. Lovely, Craig. And Craig and you then, didn't you end up living? I don't mean living with, but as mates, living with each other after that. Yeah, that was the, yeah, that was the first time I ever met Craig. And then he was looking for a flat, I split up with a girlfriend,

and it all just sort of the stars aligned. And then we started living together in Crouch End for about just over a year. Yeah, I can't really remember a lot about that year. Two young, up-and-coming actors, say to them all. But it was, yeah, it was glorious time. I love that you two and your friendship you have got this, you can tell that you've lived together because you know things about each other

that, you know, he always tells me your things that you got up to and you're dancing, which is now loud and proud on all the TV shows, you're always doing your dancing. Jonathan Ross got you up there doing your Michael Jackson dancing. He did indeed. I sort of knew that was, he had that up his sleeve. I wasn't, you know, pre-prepared for it, but I sort of had one eye on the fact that he might ask me to do it. You know, it works.

But no, it's good, yeah. It was just such a laugh living with Craig. We had one of those flatwarmings, you know, where you, you know, the guy in the yellow pages when he wakes up. It was a bit like that. We had a flatwarming. It was on a first floor flat. There was cream carpets.

And I think the entire population of Crouch End gate crashed. I don't know what we were thinking. It was a rented flat. And it was, yeah, we sort of came around the following morning and it was just a sea of people with red wine stains and cigarette burns. It was complete madness. Yeah, yeah. It was one to remember.

But suffice to say, I don't think we got our deposit back, Gabby. Are you surprised me? I just wondered if you'd use lots of salt and lots of vanish, whatever it is, or shaken back or whatever. No, I don't think we'd. We were that equipped. I think we just lost our deposit. I needed you on speed dial back then to help us through it. Oh, my word. Do you know what? But you, you are just a complete nutter joy. So 17 years ago when I met you and Craig, and Craig and I have been in touch ever since, and you and I meet

every so often. And I just, it is so lovely. You haven't, as corny as this sounds, you and Craig, you know, you've had such success. And you, the past year. you know, with DES and with white lines and Code 404 and Temple and, as you know, one of my favourite film Swimming with Men and Fisherman Friends. I mean, you've had a phenomenal few years, but you were exactly the same now as you were then. Oh, really? Well, yeah, all that swimming in trunks in swimming with men hasn't changed me. I don't know.

I try to be... you've got to stay grounded, haven't you, Gabby? You've got to keep your feet on the ground. I'm blessed to have a loving family around me with Lou and my two kids. And, you know, I'm close to all of my brothers. I've got two older brothers, one younger, so I'm one of four boys. So I'm always, well, I was seeing them and then lockdown hit. But I don't know.

Family is really important to me. I always have that mentality when I'm working that whatever, job you finish, that's there and that's gone and then you wipe the slate clean and come afresh to the new character that you're playing. So I try and just keep everything grounded and fresh and yeah, just sort of ride the wave really. I've never had a game plan, Gabby. I've never really, the beauty and fear of this profession is you never really know what's around the corner. and I kind of, as crazy as it sounds, you have to kind of embrace that as much as possible.

But I'm blessed to have a load of supporting people around me, yeah. It's a tough thing to embrace that because there are a lot of actors out there who find embrace it, they really want to embrace that, but they think, oh, but it's the next, when's the next job, when's the next job? And you just strike me. I mean, I have to say all the stuff, you know,

okay, so you and I know each other, but I was sat down and doing all my, research and everything, seeing if there's anything that I missed. And there is, nobody has a bad word to say about you. So with the craziness of the job that you do and all the people that you meet, you're just one of the good guys. And that's just so lovely. I feel like an auntie who's very proud. I think you've got to be easy to work with. I mean, I'm not, I'm not a diva by any actually the imagination, you know, there's those sort of rules that, you know, that game plan that you should sort of stick by where, you know, being kind to people, turning up on time,

knowing your lines, you know, thinking about the character, all that sort of stuff, you know, don't bump into the furniture. But it's sort of, I think, you've got to be easy to get on with. You've got to be a collaborator. And by saying that, it allows the sort of door to remain. open for people to want to continue to work with you really. There's no, you know, sort of putting TV productions together or putting a play on. They're always like a huge team effort. It's a collaborative effort and you have to be a part of that team and not be not be a problem. So, and deliver the goods. And I think I've always held on to that. And it's always been definitely a pattern in my work where directors or producers,

or whoever had wanted to continue the working relationship, which is great. That's really lovely. Isn't that how, I mean, that's how many of your jobs that you worked with one person, and I think, isn't that with Code 4 or 4, which, oh, I love that show? It makes me laugh so much. You and Stephen, obviously, I know it's very hugely publicised

that you were friends and that you got him that job and that you two working together. I just love that show and you're doing more of those as well, aren't you? Yeah, I didn't think Stephen Graham was working enough so I thought I'd give him a hand, you know. Yes, it's kind of you. You're generous.

We've just finished the second series of it, Gabby, and it's, you know, we obviously had to film it in lockdown, which, you know, was strange in itself. It definitely took us a good week to kind of get our heads around it and the crew were amazing. We're in all the PPE, and, social distancing and it was a real kind of gigantuan effort to get through it. But I have to say it's one of, if not the most enjoyable projects to work on. Because, you know, Steve's an old

mate of mine. We've known each other since forever. And as soon as I read the pilot for that, for the show, I just said to the producers, because they wanted to attach me very early on to get the ball rolling with it. And I was like, who are you thinking for the other copper? Who's going to play Roy? And it's very early. And I said, listen, You've got to cast Stephen Graham. I think he'd be absolutely perfect for it. Because we, I mean, we'd work together on a show called Top Buzzer years ago and I've always wanted to do something else.

But we've also been so busy all the time. So, Gabby, we just have an absolute ball on it. And the characters, you know, I'm the kind of crazy, goofy guy and then, you know, Stephen plays it straight. So it's a really, you know, on paper, it's a brilliantly written comedic double act by Daniel P. He's an amazing writer of the show. But particularly with the second series, because it did so well first time around,

it got a great reaction from the audience. We've really just pushed the boat out on it even more. We've made it more ambitious. There's more stunts. There's more set pieces. And I think Stephen and I, and we've got the brilliant Anna Maxwell Martin in it, we feel a lot more comfortable now with the characters. So there's been a lot more ad-libbing and in-bring.

pro and we've just had more and more fun with it. Oh, that's what I was going to ask you. So there is quite a lot of ad libbing. There was definitely second time around. I mean, we have an amazing director in Al Campbell who did the first and second season. And Al, I mean, I have to give him a shout out because he's such a phenomenal director and he can kind of come up with these amazing ideas in the moment as much as anyone. So it's, I think without Al leading from the front, it wouldn't be the show.

it is, but it's, I mean, more than the outtakes real on Code 404 is actually becoming more and more famous than the show itself. Oh my, I love the bloopers. I love that bloopers tape. It makes me laugh so much. Yeah, they showed us the blooper reel on when we wrapped on the second series at the end there. And it was just, because it's always so intense, isn't it, Gabby? I think obviously if you're shooting in a pandemic.

as well, everything becomes even sort of more focused and concentrated. And as I said, it was a monumental thing to get through it. So, and then when you sit down and you watch the blooper reel, you kind of just forget how much you actually get through and how much you shoot over a seven-week period, you know, because it's kind of like a blur. I mean, Code 404, once you start filming, you just don't stop because Stephen and I are pretty much every single scenes together.

So the line learn is huge and you just have to keep it fresh and play the comedy. And so it's, I always, I mean, everyone says comedy is harder than drama. And I completely agree with that. I think it's, well, you do it brilliantly. You really do. But it's very funny. Last night, I was watching the 404 blooper reel from season one. And it's, you had to put in your age and everything because it says it's, you know, it's 18 plus.

And my 13 year old is looking over my shoulders. What are you watching? I went, nothing. She said, no, it says 18 plus. Mum, what are you about to watch? I suddenly, I got really embarrassment. Nothing. She said, no, no, Mom.

Honestly, I think she thought I was sneakily watching some porn. I can't believe it's... This is like it's asking your age. Wow. I mean, so the blooper was 18 plus. Is that just because there's so much swearing in it, Gabby? It must be. Yeah.

Yeah, too much swearing from Stephen Graham, that'll be it. I love it. I absolutely love it. I love you two together. It's just perfect. because of course you were in Line of Duty and then he was, obviously Craig was as the caddy, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

I love Line of Duty from season one. I was obsessed with that. I'm going to say it again, swimming with men, which is one of those quiet sleeper films that if you're in the club of people who've watched this film, so I've now seen it. I'm going to be absolutely honestly,

I've seen it four times. Oh, wow. You know the routines, everything. Oh, I love it. Yeah. It's just a really special film. It was, its heart is totally in the right place.

It kind of ticks that box, isn't it, of British films that are all about the underdog. You know, we sort of, you know, people think of the full Monty. I sort of did another movie,

Fisherman's Friends, which sort of... Oh, I love that as well. I love that as well. You know, um, but swimming with men was just, and I mean,

it was just bizarre, really, from the, from the off because, um, I'd worked with Ollie Pazer Parker, the director before he shot when we did the remake of Dad's Army, which was another amazing experience.

Ollie's such a lovely guy. He phones me up and says, listen, I've got this movie. The first thing says, Danny, can you swim? That was the first thing. And I was like, oh, yeah, I can swim, Molly, what's going on? And then he said, okay, it's about a male synchronized swimming team. And I was like, man, that sounds bizarre. And then Rob Bryden was attached.

And then they got more and more brilliant actors. and Jim Carter and Thomas Turgus and Rupert Graves and Adieu and all these people. And I thought, this is just, I think if we got it right, it could really be a beautiful, special little film. And then I said yes to it. And then we did two weeks intensive swim school at the London Aquatic Centre. Well, Gabby, we got to the end of the first day. We were absolutely exhausted.

We were like, I thought, I can't do this for another two weeks. So in actual fact, it's a beautiful heartwarming film to watch, but it was kind of like a grueling shoot. As well as it was hugely fun to shoot, it was kind of grueling. I don't recommend being in a swimming pool for like six, seven hours a day. And I always remember when I got into the trailer on day one, there was this lovely bouquet of flowers. Danny, welcome to the film, blah, bar,

and next to it was a tub of moisturising cream. I was a bit different. Oh my God, did we need it? I mean, we were kind of, chlorine plays havoc on your skin. What can I say? Oh, but the synchronised swimming. So did you do?

Was it really you guys doing the synchronized swimming? Yeah, we had an amazing girl called Adele from the Aquatics. What were they called Aquabatics? Aquatic. I can't remember. the name of it, forgive me. But it, so we literally worked out all of the routines. So we would, I mean, that was the bizarre thing.

We were literally thrown into the deep end, all of us, part of the pun. And it was just, you know, throughout a rehearsal process, you really get to know your fellow actor. Whereas on day one, I was grabbing Rob Bryden's left ankle, Rupert Graves' calf. And it was like, you know, we were sort of there with just our trunks on, like, wriving around in the water together. And so that sort of feeling of intimacy was, it was, you sort of bonded on a much deeper physical level with all of them. And I always say that Jim Carter, the lovely Jim Carter is the most buoyant actor in equity because he could never sink. We just had to keep weighing him down in his trunks. But we seriously, we perfected the wilting flower, the apex variable.

And, I mean, it was great because our fitness levels and our body shapes improved dramatically throughout the course of the film, definitely after the two weeks. And then that stamina and your breath capacity improves. So it was a real kind of amazing experience to. go through and we have produced a really lovely film at the end of it. Oh, I love it. I really, really love that film. So was it based on truth that? Because I know that the fisherman's friends was, and of course you played Ronnie Biggs and also obviously Des, which we're going to talk about. So there's a lot of people that you've played who are, who are real, if that makes sense. It's not

just fictional people. Do you have a completely different mindset because you think, oh, this is a real person? Yeah, I just think it kind of adds that extra level of responsibility to it and spice into the whole mix. It's always about, I think the onus much more falls on research of knowing who that person is. If they've got a different accent to yours, perfecting that, how physically are they? And I think it's, with those types of jobs, it's always about, it's never about, doing an imitation of someone. It's always about trying to find the essence of that character. Do you know what I mean?

I mean, something like Ronnie Biggs, for example, you know, there's a huge amount of, you know, tabloid stuff in the tabloids about Ronnie Biggs and you have that preconceived idea of who he is through what you read in the papers. So it was all about trying to delve beneath that and trying to flesh him out as a human being. I mean, that's the thing. you just want to humanise these people as best you possibly can. And but have it, you know, come from you.

It's just about finding the essence of who that person is and, and trying to channel that, really, for it to be believable. Well, also with Des, I mean, I just mentioned Des, and we have to talk about it because it's one of, you know, it is going to, I just have a feeling. And I think everybody knows it's going to win every award out there. And I've spoken, I just spoke to, Jason Watkins for this podcast as well recently.

I mean, and I spoke to David. I sound like I'm name-dropping. I spoke to David Chenin a few weeks ago as well. You've done the whole cast, Gabby. I know. It blew my mind. I think with everybody it did. And the performances, your performance,

I know I message you. I was so in awe of you. But I've read a lot that you found it very tough to do and you took the darkness back with you. And you said earlier that you don't really. of leave it at the, you leave it back at work, but Des must have been a really tough one. Wow. I finished on White Lines. I was doing the show for Netflix,

and then I got this amazing offer for Des. And so I sort of came back from that hedonistic, amazing adventure out in Miorca on White Lines, and then was sort of plunged polar opposite drama into the world of Dennis Nielsen and all of the research for that. I mean, there's countless, I mean, I just literally saturated myself in all of the documentaries. I read Brian Masters book King for Company. ITV gave us loads of research material to work on.

And it was, it kind of really, it did affect me. I mean, poor Lou, I woke my wife up twice. I had two nightmares, like terrible. I don't really have dreams or nightmares or anything like that. Or if I do, I never remember them. but I had two dreams where I was locked in an attic with Dennis Nilsson and literally woke up screaming and it happened on two occasions. So it was, I think the Dennis Nielsen case was so kind of,

it's mind-boggling what he did. And to try and get your head around that and try and understand how something like that could actually happen. And then to obviously play Peter Jay, the constable responsible for his conviction, You have to sort of place yourself at the centre of that world. And because, you know, Peter Jay, particularly in the drama, he is the eyes of the audience. He takes the weight and onus and responsibility of all of those victims on his shoulders. And I think that was always the key to the character.

And our brilliant director, Lewis Arnold, said, you know, he is the way in for the audience. He's very much the heart and soul of the whole piece. And that really wasn't lost on me. I wanted to really take the audience on that journey. And it was lovely for me, Gabby, actually, to play a character who was kind of polar opposite to White Lions or a Code 404 where they're very big and, you know, comedic or, you know, very sort of extroverts. Whereas this was like to internalize it and make him a very insular and watchable character.

You know, it was about him just observing it. no less feeling all of the emotion that he was going through, but just sort of keeping a sort of lid on it, if that makes sense. Because it definitely affected him that guy. I mean, he left Police Force two years after the case finished, so it definitely left the mark on him. I mean, the whole thing was remarkable. The actual case itself obviously was horrific,

but the drama was done so beautifully, and it wasn't made showbiz. It was just the right tone. Yeah, it wasn't about sensationalising Dennis Nilsson. It was about, I think, the drum was always about what was the cost of Dennis Nilsson and how, in fact, it affected obviously the victims, but also their extended families. It was all about getting, you know, it was always told from a point of absolute reverence and respect for the subject matter.

And, you know, the script was beautifully written by Luke Nils. And like you mentioned, when you sit across from actors like, you know, the exceptional Jason Watkins and David Tennant, it kind of, it's all the more easier your job, you know, actors of that calibre, it really does force you to sort of raise your game. And then, you know, I thought both of their performances were absolutely stellar. They were tremendous. Well, they said the same about you, so you've got to know that. Oh, that's very kind of.

In real life, though, obviously you've gone through quite a drama. I know you've spoken about it, but, uh, Louis. is his broken leg when... Yeah. And you see you laugh every time. It's just every time I mention your wife's broken leg, you start laughing. Well, you can laugh at it in hindsight. When it happened, it was...

It was horrendous, Gabby, because not least the actual injury itself, it was this freak accident. It was... I have to laugh because it's the timing of it, Gabby. It was literally the Sunday before the school. went into lockdown. So there was me thinking, you know, Lou and I were going to tackle the homeschooling front,

the both of us together, and it was just me, myself and I. And Lou was bedbound because she unfortunately broke her legs. So Lou was bedbound. Milo was in the loft doing mock GCSEs. I was homeschooling. It was just, I felt like I got hit by a train, yeah. But she, how about her?

with a broken leg. I love it. It's about you feeling like you've been not. No, yeah. I mean, Gabby, it was just, it was, it was one of those horrendous injuries where you heard the bone actually snob. It was like a football injury where the guy's studs get caught in the grass. How did she do it?

She literally slipped down a bank, a grass bank, which was on a slope. And she just carried it. And then her foot got lodged and then she toppled over. And basically her ankle didn't move. So it just went snap like that. And because it, you know, the COVID thing was raging at that moment. And Lou was very nervous about being around people. So we actually decided to go on a walk around the back of my daughter's school in Mill Hill.

And it's a really remote area, Gabby. So we were literally in the middle of this wood. And Lou was screaming in agony. And her ankle was getting more and more swollen. And I'm like, what? I do, what do I do? So our lovely friends, Heather and Kevin, who don't live too far away from that area, I bailed Kevin and he came and saved the day,

and we threw Lou in the car and drove it to A&E. So from being at a point of not wanting to be around anyone, we were three hours in Barnet A&E, who were absolutely fantastic. But I remember saying, you know, have you got any COVID cases here? And Mr Mays, they're just the other side of that wall, and we've got plenty. So I was just like, it was a huge drama. But thankfully, she's right now? Yeah, she's fine.

She's fine. But it was just shocking like a sort of freak accident is. It's sort of, you just sort of go into panic mode, don't you? And how did Milo's GCSEs go? He did fine. He was just the sort of mock exam things. But I had to sort of, you know, prepare the loft in a sort of exam type. You know, I printed off all the papers.

I had to stop watch. I did all of that stuff. I gave me a glass of water. It was like, so I was schoolmaster cook. The homeschooling with our daughter Dixie was just like, just trying to get a small monkey to sit down in place just to do it. It was just like, I mean, we were doing Joe Wicks workouts one minute or science experiments in the garden the next.

It was, I mean, lockdown was lockdown, wasn't it? And you just had to get through it. best way you possibly could. It was... Yeah, but you carried on working, though, you said, because of course you were doing 404 and aren't you filming or finish filming or that to film Temple as well?

I'm filming the second series of Temple now. But I mean, I finished Des and then I'd had a ridiculous run of work and so I said, listen, I'm going to have a bit of time off. You know, I don't need to do anything for a while. And then lockdown happened. And then sort of not wanting to do anything for a while turned out to be seven months.

And to not act for something. seven months is slightly, I mean, I know, lots of actors kind of don't work for that time, but it, for me, it was, you know, I just, I think at the end of it all, I was, I just, it reaffirmed how much I love to do what I do. And if I'm not allowed, I, I missed it terribly. I missed that, not just the camaraderie and the banter and all the stuff that you get on film sets, but I just missed the endeavour of playing another character and doing my job. But actually, all the shows that I've mentioned on all the shows that you've done, you know, they keep us all going.

We're all, you know, everybody devoured line of duty from the beginning all over again. Yeah. Star Wars. I don't even talk. That's so funny. I talk about swimming with men and yet you've been in Star Wars. You've worked with Spielberg, but I will always go back to swimming with men. Who wants to talk about Spielberg and Star Wars when you've done swimming with?

men. Let's be honest. And 1917, you were in that as well. Yes, that was an amazing call out of the blue from my agent saying that Sam Mendes wants you to do a tiny role. It was one of those things going, look, Danny, it's just a cameo, but they're all doing it. Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch. And I was just like, of course, yeah, it's, of course I'd love to do that. And it was an amazing, you know, just the chance to work with Sam Mende. And it was just, you know, because I've been such a huge fan of his films over the years. And this is a great example for any young actors starting out, because I've never met Sam Mendes in person at all. And I had sort of three days on 1917. If you've seen the movie, I start

the film with the two boys and we walk down the trench together and I'd take them to go and see Colin Firth, the Colonel. I sort of essentially had a cough for the spit in it. But Sam wants to meet you, Danny, just to talk about your character. And so I arrived. We just, you know, We filmed it on Salisbury playing quite early. And I knocked on his trailer and he opened it and he said, come in. And he was absolutely lovely to chat to. And we spoke about the film. But he did say, oh, Danny, it's so great.

Thank you so much for agreeing to do it. I just want to say, I've seen you in this production, that production, that play. And I suddenly thought, I'd never even know that he was sitting in the audience watching me. And it's just, you just, for any young actors that's not going out, you just never know who is sitting in the darkened auditorium. and, you know, they will remember your performance and hopefully down the line they'll want to work with you. That's such good advice. Yeah, yeah.

I thought, you know, it's how great that he remembered that. And it all helps, isn't it, really? It really does. But, okay, we have to mention Spielberg and Star Wars. I mean, your CV is pretty darn impressive. They're all, yeah. I mean, it's great. I mean, what can you say about those things

other than you have to just sort of ride the wave with it, really. What was he like? What was Spielberg like? It's just incredible. I mean, the thing about Tintin, which is the film I made with him, it was all motion capture. Again, this is another example or story for not just actors, but anyone that is maybe on a sort of downward curve

or, you know, feeling dispirited about things. I can remember a lot of the time when you self-tape and you put yourself up for American things, for me anyway it doesn't really come off it's a huge effort to learn the lines to get somebody to read the lines you record it you edit it you press send and invariably you don't hear back that's the reality of it okay um this audition came in for tintin directed by stephen spillberg and peter jackson that was the other thing and i was and i and um lovely jena jay was casting it down in lewisham and i had to learn like three scenes or something

and I couldn't I I was just a bit grumpy about it all and I because I think I'd had a run of disappointments with self tapes but this was actually going to the casting suite itself and I remember saying and to my wife I said I can't I don't I just I can't be asked it's never going to happen it's never going to come off what's the point and I was like a bear with a sore head going all the way down to the casting saying you know I just this is just pointless and Lou was like listen, you can't be like that. You've got to go in and give it your best shot. Anyway, so cut a long, long story short. I did the casting. I left. And then I had this call out of the blue. I was in the parking crouch end. My agent saying, and this is the exact thing you want to hear,

right, from your agent. Stephen Spielberg loves your tape. Yes, yes. Yeah. And I just saw everything stopped. And I went, for real? And she went, yeah, Danny, listen, it's between you and someone else. That's the thing you don't want to hear. But then she said, they're either going to go really older with the part, Danny, or a bit younger, which is you, and it's a 50-50 chance. I was like, you're kidding me.

Thankfully, it went my way. And then I was on this whole journey of flying out to LA, having tests, wearing the all-in-one wetsuit, 200 reflective dots on your face. Daniel Craig's the main baddie, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, the guru himself, Andy Circus,

doing all the motion capture, Jamie Bell was tinting. And then I'm standing there on set on day one and then all of a sudden the door opened and out walked Stephen's Bilbo with all these people around him. And he was like, great to meet you, Danny. Hey man, let's just go to work.

And it was just like, boom. And he was just in the moment coming up with all these amazing ideas. It was just incredible. So it's just a great example of always keeping the faith, really, and seeing what comes in. Can we just go back to real... That is a great story, you know.

Can we go back to real life? Am I right that... Did I ask you this already? But Stephen set you and Lou up, but you and Lou have only just got married, but you've been together a long time, haven't you? Yeah, we got married a couple of years ago now, but we've been together...

How old are you? Like about 15 years. Yeah, a long time. But getting married was... never really kind of on the cards as such and then things transpired and it was just like now now feels like the right time. How lovely. And so we did it and it was such a beautiful, magical day, an unforgettable day that you sort of, I remember thinking why on earth didn't we do this sooner? I mean, weddings are glorious events, aren't they? Not least the union of two people,

But it's all of those, because life's so busy and you lose touch with people. And it's the gathering of all of those people, your dear loved ones and friends, in one room to celebrate the unity of two people is just, I can't remember a more magical day. It's a beautiful thing. And it was great. Yeah. Very emotional. And it's lovely because the kids get to watch it.

I think these days there's something very lovely about that. I remember our two girls watching us get married. Yes. Their faces. I think they were slightly even happier than, no, I mean, I'm not. But you know what I mean? They were just, they, it was everything that they wished for. And I bet your kids were the same.

They just looked at you with such love. Yeah, Dixie was our flower girl. Milo came down with the ring in the box and all that stuff. Oh. He was just teetering into sort of grumpy teenager mode. So it was a bit, I had Kevin and Perry coming down the middle of the aisle. No. No, I didn't. It was very special. Yeah, yeah, it was lovely.

So something I always ask everybody on these podcasts is what makes you barely laugh? What makes you really raucously laugh that you can't, you know, that you just lose it completely. And I know you like a laugh. Oh. What makes you properly laugh? I mean, listen, you can't, you cannot go wrong with, if I'm watching the telly, if an old rerun of Only Fools and Horses comes, on Gabby, that's, I'm done. Really?

I'm just done. I'm just literally, that show to me is absolute genius. Like, I love it with a passion. I love the characters, I love all of the performances, but it's one of those things where

even my kids, even my daughter knows the theme tune of Only Forced Norses down because I just sing it around the house. So I can't just watch the first five minutes. If I watched five minutes, bang, I have to sit down and watch the whole thing.

And that's something that really makes me belly laugh without doubt, yeah. Oh, that's perfect. That's perfect. It's very funny because lots of people say, all my kids or lots of people say, like me, if people fall over. So I don't mean like, that would be cool. I'm always constantly laughing at, you know, kids and things like that. But, yeah, I'm always, if you see the outtakes real on the new outtakes,

real for Code 404, that you'll see me belly laugh. that Stephen Greyer makes me belly laugh, yeah, that's it, working with him. I cannot wait. Do you know what? I can't wait for everything that you do, as you know, because not only do I just completely love your pieces, but I'm a huge fan of your work. I think, well, that's not just so shabby, I'm a huge fan of your work.

I'm a huge fan. But I am. I does think what you do is so great and that you love every minute of it, which is even better. So carry on doing what you do as wonderfully as you do because you're a total joy. Oh, Gabby, thank you. So it's lovely to chat to you today, and it's been a joy. That Gabby Rawson podcast is proudly produced by Cameo Productions.

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