Film interview Severance - Danny Dyer
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| Danny Dyer in Severance |
We talk to Danny Dyer about appearing in British comedy horror Severance and working with director, Chris Smith.
What appealed to you about Severance in particular?
Danny Dyer: Well, it was an opportunity for me as an actor to show a nice bit of range. A bit of comedy, a bit of ‘off my nut trippy acting’, but at the same time playing straight and being scared. Putting all these in the same film is a rare thing. You either do drama, where it’s all played straight and it can be upsetting, or it’s a comedy and you’re playing for gags.
But [my character] Steve's got everything - funny lines, he comes to the front and he saves the girl. It’s a dream role.
How difficult was it to make Steve likeable, because we're not sure about him from the start?
Danny: We were always a bit worried about the opening stuff, particularly as you first see him ordering hookers. We didn’t want to make him seedy because that’s not very endearing.
I'm also tripping out of my nut for the first 10 minutes, so you don’t really know Steve. It’s not until they’re all sitting round the table for the pie scene that you get to know what he’s about. You find out that I’m the comedy character and I’m the one that’s going to break it up a bit. It’s then that you start to warm to me. But he also needed an element of toughness about him because when I start kicking off with the villains it’s got to be believable.
How physically demanding was the role?
Danny: Very. Chris made me go to a gym - not because I had eight chins but because the part needed it. I did six weeks with a personal trainer, three days a week and cut down on my food. He basically wanted definition. The terrorists in this film are horrible - they're big men so for me to turn round and fight them, I had to make it look believable. But it was knackering as well.
That fight scene was two days, 12 hours a day. I like a smoke and a booze but I was in shape for this because I did the gym thing first. You're drained after you've done it but it's very rewarding. Now that I've seen the finished film, I sit back and think I can't knock my performance at all. That's not me being arrogant - that's me doing exactly what I wanted to do with the character. I'm so proud of it.
What was it like working with Chris Smith?
Danny: Well, Chris dealt with us all in different ways. You only really find out how actors are when you’re on the set and you’re under pressure. That's when you can see the little chinks. Sometimes you just need a pat on the bum, but other times you need to be bollocked.
What Chris did was to wind me up. He'd get me to a point where I'd do a take and he’d say: "That's perfect, now I want you to do it like this.” I’d feel like he couldn’t do that to me and ask what he meant but he’d get me to a point where, to spite him, I’d be like: “Come on then, you’re wrong but let’s do it!” But he’d get the right performance out of me.
What's next for you?
Danny: Well, I’m getting offers now. I don’t know if it’s because of Severance, or whether after Severance comes out I’ll get loads of horror films. But I’ve been offered a film called The Lesbian Vampire Killers. I also have a film I’m going to be doing with Richard E Grant called Junk Mail, where I play a stalker, this weird little postman that opens people’s mail. It’s very different from Severance.
I’m actually at a stage where I don’t have to audition and it’s freaking me out a bit. I love it but I’m not used to it, so I don’t want to make any rash decisions.
I want to see how Severance goes because if this goes ‘boom’, it could be another Trainspotting. I’m just going to take each day as it comes and not believe in my own hype. At the moment I’m flavour of the month, but next month it could be Dean Gaffney – you never know!
Interview: Rob Carnevale