Line of Duty’s Daniel Mays on ‘daunting’ encounter with Hollywood veteran Michael Douglas | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV
The TV fave had been speaking from Paris, where he and other greats had been filming the episodes.
“There’s me, the great Eddie Marsan and Tom Hughes, all playing outside of our class,” he exclaimed proudly.
“That’s my key advice: don’t get boxed in – and surprise yourself as much the audience!”
Meanwhile he confided that he had grown up watching the “incredible performances” of veteran actor Michael.
READ NOW: Gary Lineker sparks fury over ‘backhanded’ jibe to England’s Euro win
“It’s daunting… [but] he’s an absolute delight – it’s a gift to share the screen with him,” Daniel revealed to the Radio Times.
The husband of fellow acting star Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael is taking on the leading role as the USA’s founding father.
Although he looks up to and admires legends such as Michael, Daniel also receives his fair share of admiration due to his celebrity status.
In fact, he has revealed that he is constantly “stopped” by those who recognise him from his Line of Duty scenes.
Meanwhile, he has praise for the show’s director, Al Campbell, for ensuring that it can match intense police dramas like Line of Duty “visually”.
Filming comes with its fair share of challenges, however, and according to Daniel, “it’s absolutely exhausting”.
“You have to switch very quickly between drama, comedy and physicality,” he explained.
“It’s goofy and silly, but it’s demanding to get the timing right of some of the straighter dialogue when you know there’s a killer punchline coming.”
One humorous element of Daniel’s character is his ability to recall from memory which Now That’s What I Call Music! album any given song appears on.
He plays a veritable musical encyclopedia – and even his driver gets in on the storyline.
“He said I should describe Stephen Graham’s character Roy as ‘Simply the Best’, like Tina Turner,” Daniel joked.
“He should have a writing credit, really!”
The full interview appears in this week’s Radio Times.
