BAFTA winner Danny Dyer talks films past and future: "I can ride a horse now so I'll maybe do a Western"

Danny Dyer has been a regular on our TV screens since the '90s – perhaps most famously for his long stint as Mick Carter in EastEnders – but he's also no stranger to the big screen, with Human Traffic and The Football Factory among his most iconic film roles.

And for his latest feature credit, he's doing something he's never done before: appearing in a film all by himself. The film – which is now showing in UK cinemas – is titled One Last Deal, and sees Dyer playing a football agent who finds himself in a deeply stressful situation.

Unfolding entirely in his office as he fields a number of phone calls, Dyer gives one of the best performances of his career as we watch his character descend deeper into turmoil.

To mark the release, Radio Times spoke to Dyer for our Film Flashbacks series – discussing everything from his very first film memories to the challenges of starring in a film by himself and the genres he'd still love to work in.

You can check out the full interview below.

What are your earliest memories of going to the cinema and watching films when you were younger?

I was born in '77 and there was only one cinema in my area which was in Barking, so being a youngster I wasn't really allowed to go that far – you had to get a train on your own. But I remember watching Batman, the Michael Keaton one. That was one my old man took me to see.

But early influences really were not so much going to the cinema but just going down to the off license where they would rent you a video of some sort. And I was bang in to horror, me and my brother. Salem's Lot was one... watching all these sort of dark, really gory horror films that still stick with me today. I mean, Lost Boys is one of my favourites of all time as well. [I was] very much an '80s era kind of kid. Weird Science was another film that I loved [and] still love. It's funny. It's got a certain way about it that I went on to show my kids, obviously.

I remember Clockwork Orange was banned, so everyone was trying to get hold of this VHS of Clockwork Orange. And if you got it, you know, holding it in your hands. You were like, 'Oh, my God, This is so naughty.' Then you put it on. It's actually a brilliant, brilliant piece of filmmaking and a piece of art, I suppose. So yeah, I was really the video era instead of sort of going up the cinema – I couldn't really afford it, and it was too far.

Were there particular actors and performers that you saw as influences in those early days?

Ray Winstone, for sure, was somebody I saw on the telly in Minder. He didn't have a big part, but I just remember the way he spoke was very much like the way I speak and the way my dad speaks, because he was from Plaistow down the road from me. Instead of being like the token cockney sort of East Londoner, he really did speak with a musicality that really interested me.

But really honestly, it's all about fate. And the only subject in school I loved was drama. It was the only one that I was interested in and I loved it and I just felt like I expressed myself in a way that I was quite good at it, and I was s**t at everything else in school. So that was when I started to get an inkling of, 'Could this be a career?'

And so I'd just go to any sort of drama club after school. Or anything that was for free that I could go to, just to do a little bit more of it, I did and it led on to something else, and something else and eventually getting an agent. So it was a hobby, really. It's that old saying, if you turn your hobby into a job, you're winning in life.

You did a lot of TV work in the '90s and then your first film credit was Human Traffic in 1999. What are your memories of those days?

I mean, Human Traffic was a one off piece, that really was sort of celebrating hedonism and that club culture in the '90s. So it was a rare job that one, and I was still living through it while filming it.

I mean, the first job I ever did was Prime Suspect season 3, and I just remember I walked on that set for the first time and going, 'Oh, I really feel at home here.' Don't know why that is. I never felt out of place even though that sort of classism thing and all that, and I didn't really know what I was doing. But I always felt sort of brave in that scenario.

So Human Traffic really opened me up to the sort of sexy side of film and the cinematography and working with class actors like John Simm and Shaun Parkes – it really sort of made me go, 'Okay, right, we're on the big screen now.' So, I've said this before, it's just about can I earn a living in this? I had a child very young, and really just wanted to provide for them, just like we all do. And it's very difficult. It is difficult in any industry, but especially being an actor, it's... can you stay around for a long time?

It's very hard to stay relevant or keep working and sort of convincing different producers and directors to hire you. That's really my motivation and drive, really, and I'm still knocking about 35 years later. And I suppose this film, One Last Deal, is everything I've ever learned over the years, I've put it into this piece of work because it's just me on the screen.

It's just me going, okay, how can I make this work? Can I keep the audience engaged for 120 pages, you know what I mean? And I feel like it's come at the right point in my life really. I'm really proud of it. And think it stands up as a piece of work.

What made you say yes to this one? Did you look at any other one-actor films while you were preparing for it?

I loved the story. I just thought it was a brilliant story. It just reminded me of an episode of The Twilight Zone, of a man just having the worst day of his life – how's he going to get through this? I know that Tom Hardy did Locke, and Jake Gyllenhaal I think did one. Ryan Reynolds maybe... I haven't seen any of those. I didn't want to... I felt this was a completely different piece.

So really, it was just about me getting my nut down, concentrating, learning your dialogue and try and bring this Jimmy Banks character to life. I tend to swerve... when I did Rivals, the first day we got into our dressing rooms and the book was there signed by Jilly [Cooper]. I decided to swerve it. I thought I'm just gonna put my take on it, I don't want to get too bogged down with it. I know other actors would work very differently to me, but I just feel like I wanted to put fresh eyes on it.

You know all the beats in the scene, you know what you've got to get across. So I played it that way. I'm about to start a thing called The Siege, which is about the 1980 Iranian embassy hostage situation. The book by Ben McIntyre, it's based on that. So I'm sort of going through the book, but just sort of highlighting the character that I'm playing just as a reference point.

But I don't want to delve too much into it. My job is to bring a character to life so that you believe what I'm talking about. Selling words, that's what it's about – the musicality of words and sentences.

I understand it was a fairly short shoot. What were your favourite days on set?

Well I had a lot of anxiety while doing it, because I think I was so... quite method in the character. So I 'd say the last day. And that's just because of going, 'Oh, I think I've nearly done this.' There's a point halfway through and I'm so tired and just thinking, 'This is so hard.' It's like, there's no respite. You don't have a bit of lunch, then have a scene off, and then you're back on, like you do usually.

It was all from the beginning to the end of every day, I mean, every single shot. So it was just about staying switched on and trying to stay truthful forever. Because the more tired you get, sometimes the performance drops slightly. That's hard when you're in a soap opera trying to.... it's so much coming your way to keep it at a level when you're really tired, because it's all about brain and it's about having to retain dialogue and so just to make sure you're not just saying the words and going, 'Well, at least I learned it.'

So trying to keep it at a level. So, hence why we shot it only in 10 days. You couldn't have done it any more than that. It was too much on the crew, me and everyone involved. So I'm very instinctive as an actor, and I just sort of go with what's in front of me. Just break it down to little segments and just concentrate on them. Every scene is a mini film with a beginning a middle and an end.

It's like every sentence there's the beginning the middle and end, there's a point to the sentence. There's a beat to it. Certain words should be highlighted more than others. It's like me and you having a conversation now. It's like the art of conversation can be quite magical, unless you're talking to a boring ****.

Do you still get a kick out of watching yourself on screen?

I suppose I was quite obsessed with it when I was younger. As you get older, the longer you're in the game, it's almost like you've done the job now, so it's out of your hands. I think with this particular piece of work, I'm the only one in it. So I'm a lot more vulnerable.

I've watched it a couple of times with an audience, and you're sort of reluctant to clap at the end, clapping your f**king self, that's a bit weird. I think, the reaction I've got so far from watching it with people has been amazing and no one walked out. That's a f**king bonus. You know, they gasped in the right places. They laughed in the right places.

I just think it's a really, really well put together, clever independent film. A mad little story. It's like what the f**k is going on here? What's going to happen here? How's he going to get out of this scrape that he's in?

What are your favourite memories of watching your films with an audience?

Anything funny is great. Films like The Business was always a joy to watch with people just because of the soundtrack and just how bright it is, and just there's a lot of fun elements to that. Human Traffic, was like a rave, sort of party atmosphere. And I've done so much now so it's hard to even f**king remember most of it. I'm proud of most of the stuff I've done.

You've worked across film, TV and stage. Do you still see a difference between film and TV?

I definitely think that television is the one now, isn't it? I think that cinema is struggling slightly. I think again, going back to... it's quite expensive, and everyone's got f**king 100 inch TVs now, and it's not as much of an experience going to the cinema. That's why they went through a whole 3D stage for a little while and then you could get 3D tellies, which f**ked it.

So television now is made of the highest order, and it's shot in a particular way that looks cinematic. So being part of some of the stuff I've been part of recently, like Rivals and that, is up there with any movie really. And I think that television, probably because of streaming services, seems to be the way forward. I would love people to still go to the cinema, especially to watch One Last Deal. But yeah, I think television really is sort of taking over slightly.

Has the way you look for parts changed – do you prefer to go for more challenging roles or familiar ones?

I think it's a bit of both, actually. I'm definitely looking for a challenge, for sure, I have the luxury of that now. I've had a great run, I've earned money and stuff. So it's not like most actors are just waiting for the phone to ring, their bills coming in. It's quite painful, you do a job and you think, 'Oh, it's brilliant, it's been well received.' And the phone just stops ringing. There's no guarantees in this game.

I think I have got the luxury now. I did go through a period of my career saying yes to everything, which was a mistake. But now it's about having the luxury of just picking and choosing slightly and this was something that I defy any actor to want to turn down. It sounds very narcissistic, to be fair, to be the only one in the film, but it's an absolute challenge and, I think, a rare opportunity.

And so I had to grab it with both fans having to go through the anxiety and sort of the fear of trying to get it done and do it well, and then of course it's done. And now I'm out sort of trying to promote it. I've got no other actors to rely on. So it's all purely about me and me trying to just do my thing, I suppose. And if you like my thing, whatever the f**k that is, then you're gonna get plenty of it with this film.

Are there any other genres you'd still like to do in the future?

I've never really done a horror. I did Severance, that was a movie that was a horror, and I really enjoyed that. It's a mad discipline that. Horrors are usually only set over one night, as well, everything goes wrong and you're sort of smothered in blood for the whole thing. And it's all, like, quite exciting. It's very much heightened acting. So maybe we'll delve into that again.

I can ride a horse now so I'll maybe do a Western, an old school sort of.... that would interest me. Certainly any opportunities that come my way I'm very grateful for them. And so who knows what's around the corner, really, you never quite know. But I would like to do something completely left field, something completely that goes against what I'm known for, whatever that is.

So I do feel I need to get back on the stage again, to feel like I'm humbled again. Because it's important to humble yourself as an actor and get back out there and do live theatre. So yeah, I've got loads of things bubbling away, I've just got to make the right decisions.

One Last Deal is now showing in UK cinemas.

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