Daniel Mays

Against the Law – The Reviews

Against the Law starring Daniel Mays aired in the UK Wednesday 26 July on BBC Two to rave reviews from both the viewing audience and television critics. The one-off factual drama was in third spot for Twitter trends during the almost 90 minute broadcast.

Agains the Law is BBC Two’s powerful factual drama about Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally, under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.

More than ten years before the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967, Peter Wildeblood, and his friends Lord Montagu and Michael Pitt-Rivers, were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed.

With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him.

The reviews are in:

Observer New Review : [Daniel Mays] is perfect in the role.

The Times: ★★★★☆ Daniel Mays was ideally cast as Peter Wildeblood, whose bravery and testimony in 1954 helped to bring about changes in the law for gay men.

The Telegraph: ★★★★☆ A moving story of men who refused to feel ashamed. “…Daniel Mays, who can play cocky and cruel, but here wore the heartbreaking look of a schoolboy learning the vital skill of moral self-defence.”

The Guardian: Mays is unobtrusively brilliant as Wildeblood

The Arts Desk: Daniel Mays is a revelation in a factual drama about Peter Wildeblood’s imprisonment for homosexuality. He exceeds all expectation with this performance. He finds a remarkable range in a life wholly governed by watchfulness and fear.

The Spectator: In the central role, Daniel Mays captured Wildeblood’s reluctant journey into the spotlight perfectly.

Digital Spy: Against the Law is a powerful reminder of how far we have come.

Den of Geek: Daniel Mays delivers an astonishing performance as Peter Wildeblood.

The Conversation: A fitting tribute to gay men whose persecution in the 1950’s paved the way for new rights.

Radio Times:  Against the Law won heaps of praise from viewers last night, many of whom were moved to tears as they hailed the docudrama as both “heartbreaking” and “frustrating”.

The Northern Echo: Daniel Mays says that he believes the drama is “a profound, important piece of work”

You can catch up with Against the Law on BBC iPlayer through 25 August.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law – Tonight 9PM on BBC 2

Against the Law starring Daniel Mays has it’s television debut this evening at 9PM on BBC Two.

2017 sees the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised homosexual acts in England and Wales between adult males, in private. While it would take several decades before homosexuals would reach anything like full equality in this country, this legislation marks the beginning of this journey.

But the dramatic events that led to this Act took place over ten years before and are at the heart of this powerful factual drama, starring Daniel Mays and Mark Gatiss. Mays plays Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover, under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial. Wildeblood and his friends Lord Montagu and Michael Pitt-Rivers were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed. But the public thought the trial unfair and forced a reluctant government to set up a committee to investigate whether homosexuality should be legalized. The committee was led by Sir John Wolfenden. With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Peter Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him. He was the only openly gay man to testify before the Wolfenden Committee about the brutal reality of being gay in this country at that time. In 1957, the committee recommended that the laws be changed. It would take a further ten years before these recommendations would become law.

Woven through this powerful drama is testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to curethem of their ‘condition’. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws, and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All these accounts amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

We hope that you tune in this evening to watch this incredibly important factual-drama.
Against the Law – BBC Two 9PM 26 July 2017.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law – BBC Two 26 July

BBCTwo26July.jpg

Against the Law will air Wedensday 26 July at 9PM on BBC Two.

Daniel Mays (Line Of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Public Enemies) stars in BBC Two’s powerful factual drama as Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally (played by newcomer to television, Richard Gadd), under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.

More than ten years before the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967, Peter Wildeblood, and his friends Lord Montagu (Mark Edel-Hunt) and Michael Pitt-Rivers, were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed.

With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him.

Daniel says: “I’m incredibly proud to be part of a drama that tells such an important real-life story. Peter Wildeblood is a fascinating, complex, yet flawed character from a time when being a gay man in Britain was incredibly difficult – I can’t wait to bring his tale to life for the BBC Two audience.”

Patrick Holland, Channel Editor, BBC Two, said: “50 years ago, it was a crime to be a gay man in the UK. Against The Law is a stunning piece that melds drama and documentary testimony to tell the story of one man, and his wider generation, as they struggled to make society accept their sexuality as non-criminal. It is brilliant to have a film that brings the authorship of Brian Fillis, the vision of director Fergus O’Brien, and the outstanding talent of Daniel Mays and cast to this important subject”

The drama also features Mark Gatiss (Taboo, Sherlock) as Wildeblood’s prison psychiatrist, Doctor Landers and Charlie Creed-Miles (Ripper Street, Peaky Blinders) as Superintendent Jones.

Woven through this powerful drama is real-life testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their “condition”. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws, and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All of these accounts serve to amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

Written by Brian Fillis, Against the Law is directed by Fergus O’Brien, produced by Scott James Bassett and executive produced by Aysha Rafaele, Creative Director of The Documentary Unit, BBC Studios.

Watch the trailer for Against the Law

Don’t miss this incredibly important factual drama on Wednesday 26 July 9PM on BBC Two.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Against the Law – First Look Trailer

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Against the Law first look trailer was released today. Tune in to BBC TWo on  Wednesday 26 July at 9PM for this compelling and important factual drama.

Daniel Mays (Line Of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Public Enemies) stars in BBC Two’s powerful factual drama as Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally (played by newcomer to television, Richard Gadd), under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.

Daniel says ‘I’m incredibly proud to be part of a drama that tells such an important real-life story. Peter Wildeblood is a fascinating, complex, yet flawed character from a time when being a gay man in Britain was incredibly difficult – I can’t wait to bring his tale to life for the BBC Two audience.’

Woven through this powerful drama is real-life testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their “condition”. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws, and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All of these accounts serve to amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

Written by Brian Fillis, Against the Law is directed by Fergus O’Brien, produced by Scott James Bassett and executive produced by Aysha Rafaele, Creative Director of The Documentary Unit, BBC Studios.

Against the Law is part of the BBC’s Gay Britannia season of programming marking the 50th anniversary of The Sexual Offences Act 1967, which partially decriminalised homosexual acts that took place in private between two men over the age of 21.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Guerrilla on DVD

Guerrilla is released today (19 June 2017) on DVD & Blu-ray.

Daniel Mays portrays Inspector Liam Cullen in this exciting series from Sky Atlantic.

Cullen DVD
Press interviews for the DVD release: 

Daily Express – Danny discusses some of the more difficult moments to film while working on Guerrilla. 

Fathers Quarterly Magazine – Danny chats acting and football.

From Academy Award® winner John Ridley (12 Years A Slave, American Crime), comes the six-part limited series GUERRILLA, a love story set against the backdrop of one of the most politically explosive times in U.K. history. It tells the story of a couple whose relationship and values are tested when they liberate a political prisoner and form a radical underground cell in 1970s London. Their ultimate target becomes the Black Power Desk, a true-life, secretive counter-intelligence unit within the Special Branch dedicated to crushing all forms of black activism. While the series is set against a background of social and political activism, at its heart GUERRILLA is about a relationship under pressure, and the reality that for any couple there comes a point when the choices they make have real and lasting consequences.

GUERRILLA stars Screen Actors Guild Award-winner Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) and Babou Ceesay (Getting On). Additional cast includes Laurence Olivier Award-winner Rory Kinnear (PENNY DREADFUL, Spectre), Nathaniel Martello-White (Deadmeat), Daniel Mays (Line of Duty), Denise Gough (People, Places & Things), Brandon Scott (Grey’s Anatomy), Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat) and Nicholas Pinnock (Fortitude), along with Golden Globe® winner Idris Elba (Luther, Beasts of No Nation), who also serves as an executive producer through his Green Door Pictures. Along with Ridley and Elba, the executive producers are Michael J. McDonald for Stearns Castle, Patrick Spence and Katie Swinden for Fifty Fathoms and Tracy Underwood for ABC Signature.

GUERRILLA is a co-production between Fifty Fathoms and ABC Signature, in association with SKY UK.

GUERRILLA is also still available to watch/stream online (with subscriptions) via Sky UK and on Showtime and HULU in the USA.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

BBC Music Day – Thursday 15 June

Daniel Mays is taking part in BBC Music Day on BBC Radio 3 this Thursday 15 June. This year’s theme is The Power of Music.

Six short monologues have been co-commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and BBC Writersroom to mark BBC Music Day 2017. Each based on this year’s BBC Music Day theme The Power of Music, the specially-commissioned works will be broadcast throughout the day on Radio 3 on 15 June. You can listen to the monologues here. 

The monologues’ topics range from an unbeaten boxer being confronted with Brahms’s Lullaby during his last fight, to a broken man coaxed back to life by hearing Bach’s St Matthew Passion over a tube station tanoy and an orchestral clarinettist breaking rank for an unexpected solo.

Kilburn Passion

Daniel Mays stars as a man, beaten and broken. Tam is coaxed back to life by his own memories when he hears Bach’s St Matthew Passion playing over the tannoy in Kilburn underground station. This complex piece is written by Amy Ng. The monologue will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at 4:50PM  Listen here.

This project, a collaboration between Radio 3 and BBC Writersroom – the BBC’s scripted content department for developing and supporting writers – gives six emerging writers their first commissions from the BBC. Salim Allybokus, Jan Carson, Ross Dunmore, Emily De Dakis, Grace Knight and Amy Ng were each tasked with creating a five minute monologue. The works will be performed by Liam Neeson, Kayvan Novak, Tamsin Greig, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Sophie Wu and Daniel Mays.

Listen to BBC Radio 3 throughout the day on Thursday 15 June to hear these powerful monologues. You can also listen to all six monologues here.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

The One Show- Swimming with Men

If you were watching BBC One’s The One Show this evening you will have seen a segment about the film Swimming with Men and the people and story behind it.  The film is based on the Dylan Williams’s 2010 documentary “Men Who Swim.” Daniel Mays and Rob Brydon are interviewed and we get a glimpse of some behind the scenes filming of the cast in the pool.

Synopsis:
SWIMMING WITH MEN is a heart-warming comedy about a man in the throes of a mid-life crisis who finds meaning in the most unlikely of places: an all-male, middle-aged, amateur synchronised swimming team.

At the heart of the story is Eric, a 40-something stuck in a rut. With his marriage in tatters and his life generally going to pieces, Eric finds unexpected refuge in the company of a motley crew of middle-aged, slightly saggy men, who meet up once a week at the local municipal pool literally and figuratively to tread water together.

Eric slowly realizes that there’s strength in numbers, and that if this unlikely band of misfits can become a real team they might just have a shot at winning the Unofficial Male Synch-Swimming World Championships – and maybe even at turning their lives around.

The Swimming with Men cast includes Rob Brydon, Jim Carter, Jane Horrocks, Adeel Akhtar, Daniel Mays, Charlotte Riley, Thomas Turgoose, and Nathaniel Parker.  The film will be released in early 2018.

Catch up with this episode for the next 30 days via BBC iPlayer.

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

Daniel Mays – BAFTA Guru Interview

BAFTA Guru has released a new video of Daniel Mays discussing acting, what he’s learned after 17 years in the business, and what advice he would give to himself when he was starting out.

bafta guru may 2017

Watch below for this wonderful interview courtesy of BAFTA Guru:

Daniel Mays on his acting career: 
I suppose that I am in the ballpark of maybe attempting to take on characters that I’ve never played because no one wants to repeat themselves. As we get older we can grow and mature as actor. There’s still lots of various parts I haven’t even tackled yet.

Daniel Mays on what he looks for in the characters that he plays:
You want them to be as layered and complicated and contradictory as possible (like Danny Waldron in Line of Duty series 3). It’s great for you to explore that and do the research and come to the set fully prepared and try to do the job as best as you possibly can.

Daniel Mays on researching a role:
I always enjoy the endeavour of looking into a character’s past history and childhood and background because you’ve got to always play the character in the round. 

You put however much you want to put in it (the character) – explore it as much as possible. It’ll just come out in your performance in a hand gesture or a facial expression. The tiniest detail can always be picked up on camera. It’s all about putting the work in.

Daniel Mays on why Mike Leigh is so important to his acting skills:
A lot the way I approach building a character is all is down to Mike Leigh (All or Nothing, Vera Drake). It was very in depth and leaving no stone un-turned and to try to play it as truthfully as possible. Danny jokingly says “It’s all his (Mike Leigh’s) fault!”

Daniel Mays on auditioning:
Casting directors want to see you act. I always think when you go into a casting it’s about having this idea or the notion that this group of people in this room have a problem- they need to cast this role- and you somehow have to be the solution to that.

Daniel Mays on the advice he would give to himself when he was starting out:
Try to be as resilient as possible and to not shy away from hard work. It’s hard graft. You have to learn to cope with rejection and the uncertainty of it all.  You never know when that casting or job opportunity will come along.  Peoples’ perception is that you have to be in the right place at the right time but I honestly think that you create your own luck.

Daniel Mays is nominated for a best supporting actor BAFTA for his performance of Danny Waldron in the critically acclaimed series 3 of Line of Duty. The BAFTA awards ceremony is Sunday 14 May 2017 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. 

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk

The Limehouse Golem – Trailer

TLG

Lionsgate UK has released the first trailer and cinema poster for The Limehouse Golem and it features Daniel Mays as George Flood:

The LIMEHOUSE GOLEM is a gothic murder mystery set in London’s dangerous Limehouse district in 1880. In the style of Se7en or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it stars Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke and Douglas Booth. Written by Jane Goldman (Kingsman, Kick-Ass, The Woman in Black), it is based on Peter Ackroyd’s novel ‘Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem’ and is directed by Juan Carlos Medina (Painless).

A series of gruesome and bloody murders have shaken the Limehouse community. So monstrous and ruthless are these crimes the press claim they’re the work of ‘The Golem’ – a legendary creature from dark times…

Confronted by a murderer of a yet unknown kind and with no genuine leads, the police put the relatively inexperienced Detective Inspector Kildare (Bill Nighy) on the case, a scapegoat for when the next victim surfaces.

Daniel Mays stars as George Flood along with Bill Nighy, Morgan Watkins, Douglas Booth, Olivia Cooke, and others.

The Limehouse Golem is released in UK cinemas on 1 September 2017 and 8 September 2017 in US cinemas and on demand. 

Follow Daniel Mays on Twitter @DanielMays9

©DanielMays.co.uk