Cockney star Danny Dyer, who can count kings and counsellors among his ancestors, claims ‘elitist’ critics wouldn’t mock his accent if he was a black actor.
The former EastEnders favourite reveals on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 today how one sneering review of his work was even written in a Cockney accent.
He says: ‘I felt like, “why would that be allowed?” Because if I was a black actor you certainly wouldn’t do it in a Jamaican accent. I’ve had some awful reviews about me.’
The 47-year-old father of three from Custom House in London’s East End believes that coming from a working-class background has prevented him from being regarded as a serious actor.
‘I think I’ve done some good work over the years but I’ve never really been acknowledged,’ he says. ‘There’s a bit of elitism in our industry. I’m incredibly working-class and proud of my roots.
‘I don’t work for critics in a sense, but the one that did do me was, “The biggest plot twist about Rivals is that Danny Dyer can act.” And I thought, “wow”. In a way it’s a compliment, but at the same time, not really.’
An early mentor to Dyer was the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, who took the then 22-year-old actor under his wing. Dyer appeared in three plays by the writer, who also had working-class East London origins.
‘I used to stay at his house in Notting Hill and he would buy me a six-pack of lager and he would drink his wine and we’d just talk,’ he says. ‘I felt safe with him. He wanted me to be a theatre animal.’
Former EastEnders favourite Danny Dyer reveals on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 today how one sneering review of his work was even written in a Cockney accent
Danny Dyer won rave reviews from viewers and critics for his role in the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1988 bonkbuster Rivals, with one reviewer offering the backhanded compliment: ‘The biggest plot twist about Rivals is that Danny Dyer can act’
Dyer called out what he sees as a double standard in the industry. While critics have in the past mocked his working class accent, he believes ‘if I was a black actor you certainly wouldn’t do it in a Jamaican accent. I’ve had some awful reviews about me’ Pictured: the Jamaican flag
When Pinter died in 2008, Dyer says he went into a ‘spiral of madness’. ‘The guilt at not being around him any more. I was a bit of a lost soul I think and again, angry at the world,’ he added.
In 2013, Dyer joined the cast of EastEnders for an eight-year run as Queen Vic landlord Mick Carter, but his struggles with fame led to excessive drinking and drug-taking which affected his career and relationships.
He went into rehab in South Africa in 2017 to deal with his emotions. He reveals he was close to quitting the facility until a letter from home made him reflect on the pain he’d caused his family.
‘I had a moment where my ego started to rise again and I’d had enough,’ he says. ‘Then they read a letter out from my daughter, my Dani, and it made me sit back down in that seat pretty lively.’
Now he fears toxic masculinity and the difficulty many men have in talking about emotional issues is harming a generation.
He says: ‘We’ve got a lot of lost young men out there at the moment that don’t quite know how to behave and are frightened and we need to stop it.
‘Toxic masculinity is a thing, but it’s not necessarily because you’re a male, it’s because you’re not a very nice human being.’
The actor, who earned praise for his role as wealthy electronics businessman Freddie Jones in the hit show Rivals, believes men could help themselves by discussing their feelings with friends.
In Rivals, Dyer plays the role of Freddie, an electronics businessman extraordinaire – a character viewers have said he plays with ‘nuance’, while other have demanded a spin-off show just for his part
While the main storyline follows tense rivalry between polo-loving lothario Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant), fans watching have been quick to point out Danny’s ‘fantastic’ contribution
Dyer spoke of his affection for the late Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter (pictured), an early mentor who took the young actor under his wing. Dyer appeared in three plays by the writer, who also had working-class East London origins
Dyer (top) pictured with Harold Pinter (bottom right) in 2008, the year the playwright died
One of Dyer’s most famous roles before Eastenders was a football hooligan in gangster film The Football Factory
Dyer has been with his wife Jo since they were 13 years old and the pair share three children
‘Men need to open up a bit more,’ he says. ‘We need to talk to each other. I envy women that can gossip and talk about stuff. We certainly shouldn’t bottle stuff up.
‘It’s okay to be masculine and it’s okay to not be that in touch with your feelings but be able to speak about it when you’re playing pool or sitting in a car.’
- Desert Island Discs is on Radio 4 at 10am on Sunday and is available via BBC Sounds.
