Danny Dyer has revealed that his first television role was alongside Dame Helen Mirren in the crime drama series Prime Suspect 3. The actor, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, said he was 14 years old when he played an underage sex worker in the show.
Dyer described how he 'nailed' the audition and found himself on set with David Thewlis and Mirren. 'I never felt intimidated by it. I felt like I belonged there,' he said. 'I remember Helen Mirren saying I was a really good actor. I loved showing off in front of her.'
The actor also spoke about his childhood, describing his father as a 'masculine man' who was not cuddly. He recalled a moment when he tried to hold his father's hand crossing a road and was told, 'No, we don't do that anymore boy.' Dyer said he understood his father's behaviour because he was brought up in the 1950s and 1960s by a 'quite aggressive' grandfather.
Dyer's parents separated when he was nine, and he was raised by 'very strong matriarchs that swore a lot'. He chose the track Move Closer by Phyllis Nelson as a tribute to his mother Christine, saying it reminded him of her strength as a matriarch.
The actor also revealed his close friendship with playwright Harold Pinter, who mentored him after casting him in the play Celebration. Dyer said Pinter would buy him lager and talk about writers like WH Auden and CS Lewis, helping him understand the role. 'I felt safe with him and he wanted me to be a theatre animal,' Dyer added.
