2016 Interview

Observer New Review Interview: ‘I, Daniel Blake’ A Film by Director Ken Loach

Today’s Observer New Review has a compelling feature on British Director Ken Loach’s stunning new film “I, Daniel Blake”.

Daniel Mays is one of the featured interviews:

I think this film is up there with Ken Loach’s best. It’s powerful and raw, and of all his work I don’t know if I’ve watched something with such an emotional punch. It’s a searingly honest and brutal portrayal of ordinary people living on the breadline. I really admire how un-showy it is: it’s very simplistic in its storytelling and I think that’s the film’s power. I think no other film-maker would want to make a film about these characters. You’d pass Daniel Blake in the street and not notice him, and yet Ken Loach has turned the camera round and moved me to tears with it, and made me angry.

It’s about a man who is widowed and pretty much goes to war against the state, and the unwavering level of red tape he has to go through for his jobseeker’s allowance. The characters’ descent into desperation just to make ends meet is heartbreaking. I thought the relationship between the two central characters was beautifully realised: it was completely truthful and the performances were pitch perfect. I don’t think I’ve cried this much for a film in a long time.

Read Daniel Mays’s full interview online.

I, Daniel Blake is released in cinemas on 21 October.
Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

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Daniels Mays: #Inspired Series By Slick Showreels

Daniel Mays has a great interview with Slick Showreels for their #Inspired series.

Speaking to Danny was extremely insightful. No matter how high up the ladder you get, this industry is still tough.

We asked Danny what advice he would give for auditions and his views on the importance of networking. Both interesting answers:
He said it’s important to cease the moment and remember it’s not an exercise in learning lines. If you have lots of pages to learn the day before, don’t stress out too much, but if you have a a week, make sure you learn it.
It might sound like obvious advice, but it’s reassuring coming from someone like Danny Mays.

Watch Danny’s interview:

Danny Mays from Slick Showreels on Vimeo.

Slick Showreels explains: The purpose of these #Inspired interviews are to take individuals who are jobbing actors or industry professionals who make a successful living from working within this industry. Let’s say its advice that we all wish we’d have got before we’d spent so many years within the film and television industry!

Thanks to Slick Showreels for this fantastic interview!

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Interview BBC Radio London 10 April

Daniel Mays was a guest on BBC Radio London this afternoon to discuss Line of Duty and The Caretaker.

Gaby Roslin teased a surprised for Danny which was Line of Duty co-star (and Danny’s former flat-mate) actor Craig Parkinson! You’ll have to listen for the hilarious stories that they have. The interview ends with a really fantastic sing-a-long to Michael Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel” – definitely one of our favorite Danny interviews.

Thanks to BBC Radio London and Gaby Roslin for a fun afternoon.

You can catch up with the episode via BBC iPlayer for the next 30 days.

Book tickets for The Caretaker at The Old Vic Theatre until 14 May.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

On My Radar: Daniel Mays’s Cultural Highlights-The Guardian 

Daniel Mays has an excellent interview with The Guardian featuring six of his cultural highlights from Harold Pinter’s play The Homecoming, music by Flawes, television’s This is England (which stars Line of Duty’s Vicky McCLure), the film Orthodox, a Marlon Brando documentary: Listen to Me Marlon, and The Limehouse Golem book (which Danny recently completed a role in the film version). 

Book tickets to Pinter’s  The Caretaker at The Old Vic Theatre 29 March – 14 May. 

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter: @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Interview – The Telegraph

Read Daniel Mays’ excellent profile piece with The Telegraph about his upcoming roles in Line of Duty on BBC Two and The Caretaker at The Old Vic Theatre.

Speaking about Line Of Duty Series 3, Danny says: “It’s an absolute edge-of-the-seat opening.”


Having been paired with Tim Spall (Davies in The Caretaker) in a RADA mentoring scheme during his drama school training and previously worked with Tim in All or Nothing (2002), Danny says “It feels like the thing’s gone full circle.”

Line of Duty premieres during the week of 20 March (date and time TBD).

The Caretaker opens on 26 March at The Old Vic Theatre. Book Tickets

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @danielmays9

©DanielMays.co.uk