Actor Danny Dyer

Let’s be honest, most of us have a few preconceived ideas about Danny Dyer. His parade of bad boy East End types in films such as Human Traffic and The Football Factory make him the poster boy for the ultimate lad – an image perpetuated by TV documentaries such as Danny Dyer’s Deadliest Men and his regular appearances in weekly lad’s mags.

What they don’t tell you, is that Danny Dyer is a really nice bloke. When I speak to him, he’s got the flu and is battling through a day of press. Personally, I’d be grumpy as hell but Danny is chatty, funny and brutally honest about everything from his career choices to dealing with negative attention online.

We discussed working with the great Harold Pinter, why he’ll always be a Londoner and what it’s really like to play a psychopath.

Let’s start by talking about your new film, Deviation.

‘It’s a two hander – I play a serial killer who’s escaped from prison and I’m looking for my next victim. I carjack this girl, then the whole film is us in the car, with me driving her to her death. So it’s a really chirpy little one…’

So a nice romantic comedy then?

‘Exactly. It was a real challenge for me, well, for both of us actually because it’s all about the dialogue.’

Am I right in saying that the whole film is set over the course of one night?

‘That’s right, it’s all in one night. So she’s trapped, she can’t go anywhere – but in a way, she was the wrong victim to choose. She’s a nurse, she knows about psychology and she’s really good with people so she plays cat and mouse games with me.’

What’s it like playing a total psychopath? Good fun or a bit depressing…?

‘I loved it. It’s an actor’s dream to play a lunatic, you can go where you want with it. Throughout the film my character doesn’t really realise he’s doing anything wrong, it’s like I’m taking her out on a little date. He’s obviously got a real problem with women, he can’t really talk to them, he’s very childlike. That’s always fun to play.’

Was it all filmed in London?

‘Yes, London and the suburbs. The first part is in daylight, so they’re driving past people, people cross the road in front of them, and no one has any idea what’s going on inside the car. It’s the idea that you should be safe because you’re surrounded by people, but you’re so trapped. That’s very tense.’

After this film, what else have you got in the pipeline?

‘I’ve got another film coming out, it’s called Run for Your Wife and it’s the complete opposite – it’s a comedy that was a West End play for about ten years. Basically, I play a bigamist. I’ve got two wives, one’s Denise Van Outen and one’s Sarah Harding.’

I think most men would quite enjoy being in that situation…

‘Yeah, you can’t complain. The story is that I’m in an accident, I go into hospital and I’m confused and I give my two addresses. The whole film is me trying to prevent these two women from ever meeting or finding out about each other. So I’m just running around in London, bullshitting and doing everything I possibly can to keep everything sweet.’

I’ve just discovered that you’ve actually done quite a lot of theatre, including working directly with Pinter on several of his plays. Would you like to do more theatre?

‘Absolutely. I think it’s important as an actor to get the right role and the right play, because theatre is a tough gig. It takes over your life, you have eight shows a week and one day off, and it can run for six months. Pinter directed two of the plays I was in and he really meant a lot to me. I was gutted when he died. We were such an odd couple but we got on really well and he gave me a real shot. I never knew who he was before because I never went to drama school, it was only when I started to work with him that I realised how powerful and talented he is.

‘Theatre’s a kick up the bollocks to be honest with you. You can get lazy as an actor with film, and to be out in front of a live audience every night is a real test of character.’

Do you have a dream role?

‘I don’t know if there is a dream role. I mean obviously everyone wants to play James Bond, it’s such a cool part and you become a national treasure. I’d like to do a television series, I haven’t done TV in a while so I’d like to do that, playing a detective or something – like Columbo. I love that shit.’

What does London mean to you?

‘I love London. I’m a Londoner through and through. It always surprises me when people think of London and they only think of Soho, because there’s so much more to London. It’s an exciting place, it’s vibrant and I love the old and new – we have the Tower of London still standing, a couple of miles from a building like the Gherkin. We’ve got the London Eye… they’ve got one in Manchester, but it looks shit to be honest with you. I love filming in London too – I don’t think we show off London enough in films. There’s nowhere else in the world like it. I’m so proud to come from London.’

What kind of reaction do you tend to get from the public? When I said I was speaking to you today, the word ‘legend’ came up a lot!

‘I think I really divide people. I think the people that love me and my work are very loyal to me, and they will call me things like “legend”. If I go on the internet, I get nothing but abuse. There are people that just hate my guts, I mean, I was trending on Twitter and people were saying “please tell me Danny Dyer’s dead and that’s why he’s trending”. Fucking hell, I’m the father of two kids! There are some nasty people out there, it can really get to you. At the end of the day, I’m an actor. I’m just paying my bills.

‘I’m proud of what I’ve done. I’d be the first to admit I have made some shit films, but you can’t please everyone, can you?’

Deviation is released by Revolver Entertainment in cinemas on February 24th and available to own on DVD February 27th.