He is one of the country’s most accomplished actors, immortalised as cantankerous caretaker Filch in Harry Potter and odious Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, as well as the good guy for once as Doctor Who.
But despite his stellar career David Bradley says he’s still surprised when he’s asked to play a part - and even wonders if there’s been some sort of mistake.
And down-to-earth Yorkshireman David, who turns 80 in April, admits he imagined work would have dried up by now - and can’t quite believe he’s more in demand now than at any time in his life.
David is back on our screens in hit BBC drama The Responder, as Davey, a bedraggled homeless man living in Liverpool City Centre who helps Martin Freeman’s policeman character Chris during his night shifts.
Last week he was also announced as playing elderly rooster Fowler in the the long-awaited Chicken Run sequel, Dawn of the Nugget, which will be released next year.
No-one would begrudge David, a Bafta and Laurence Oliver award winner who has been on our screens since the early 1970s, of feeling more than a little deserving of his place in the biggest blockbusters. But he says: “I’m always quite surprised when a part comes my way. Sometimes I think it’s a typing error.
“When I started as an actor I didn’t have any grand plan. I was just flying blind, grateful for any work that came along, and I really still am.
“I thought I was a theatre actor and that was it, I thought that’s all I would be. If anyone had told I’d be making the things I make and working with some of the people I work with I wouldn’t have believed it.”
What’s grandfather-of-five David finds most surprising is how now, years after most people would have stopped working and put their feet up, he’s getting more job offers than ever.
Speaking from his new home in Leamington Spa, Warks, where he recently made his “last ever move” after relocating with wife Rosanna from nearby Stratford-upon-Avon, he says: “It’s not my wife who tells me I should slow down, I say that to myself more than anything.
“Last year, I worked up until Christmas and I thought, come on, give yourself a break, you don’t need to do this. So I decided to take it easy for the first half of the year, enjoy my new house and being with the grandchildren, and just see what comes along.
“If the phone stopped ringing, I would know it’s time to pack up. But the phone’s been ringing more than ever.
“To be honest if nothing came along I think I’d probably get a bit frustrated. But I haven’t had time to find out yet because I’m so busy!”
Like he does for all his roles, David painstakingly researched his character for the new BBC crime drama. “Davey is based a real homeless man called Johnny Welly who was a well-known character in the St Helen’s area of Merseyside. They sent me YouTube footage of the guy. It was fun, I’d never played anyone quite like him, he was a bit of a character.
“He was going to be called Johnny, but then they changed his name to Davey so I didn’t feel as duty bound to recreate his every inflection and patterns of speech.”
Martin Freeman also immersed himself in his character, David says. “I worked with him years ago in the 90s in the National Theatre. In between scenes we’d be chatting about the old days and I said, ‘I didn’t realise you were a Scouser’, and he said ‘I’m not’!.
“He’d just become so involved in the role that in between takes he was keeping the accent. I don’t know if he kept it when he was at home. I thought he did a remarkable job, I was totally convinced.”
Born in York, David left his job with an optical instrument maker in York aged 24 to pursue a career in acting, starting at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has more than 132 TV and film credits to his name, it wasn’t until the first Harry Potter film in 2001 - when he was already 59 - that David found widespread fame. And he admits: “It’s been really nice, the last few years, I have to say.
“I mean some people think I should have retired, but I’m enjoying it now as much as ever. I’m reluctant to use the word ‘luck’. Roman philosopher Senica said luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Fortunately I’ve had enough preparation over the last 40-odd years and opportunities have come up. It’s been a quite fruitful time thankfully.”
They have included working with one of his idols, Ricky Gervais, as his character Tony Johnson’s dementia-stricken dad Ray in hit dark comedy After Life. The third and final series was released this month.
David remembers remembers: “Again, it was a huge surprise, as I’ve always been a fan of Ricky Gervais, I thought he was a genius. Once, about 15 years ago, I passed him in the street in Soho and I thought, ‘ooh, should I go up and say how much I… No, he might blow me out’, so I didn’t.
“As it turns out, he’s a great guy and I never dreamed I’d be working with him.
“He’s great to work with. Sometimes, just to keep you on your toes, he’ll tell you something outrageous or a filthy joke just before your take.
“There was one scene where there was an old nurse walking behind us with a Zimmer frame. And just before the take he told me to shout over to her ‘Get in here yer dirty cow’. I said it and she gave me a ticking off!”
But it was being asked to portray First Doctor William Hartnell in Doctor Who docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time in 2013, as well as two Doctor Who episodes, which David says was his biggest dream come true.
He says: “I was a fan of Doctor Who as a children and my first doctor was William Hartnell. I never dreamed I’d be asked to play him, and be part of the Doctor Who family. So that really was a big surprise to me.”
His success means that he now gets stopped by fans in the street. “It’s either because of Harry Potter or Game of Thrones, they’re the main ones,” he smiles.
“But occasionally someone will say, ‘Oh I loved you in Ideal with Johnny Vegas, or in Hot Fuzz with Simon Pegg. I love it when people remember stuff like that, I’m so grateful when somebody likes something which I enjoyed doing but didn’t get as a high a profile.
“But it’s always nice when people stop you, especially when it’s Harry Potter because it’s often kids with their families.”
Of all the parts he has played, David says he believes it is the Harry Potter franchise which will ensure he’s still being watched in decades to come.
The actor, who starred in all eight films, says: “It’s like Star Wars, as each generation comes along they will get into it and it will keep going, a long time after I’ve gone.” Again, he says playing Filch, who wanders around the Hogwarts corridors with his cat Mr Norris trying to catch students breaking the rules, caught him by surprise.
He says: “First because I thought he wasn’t a major character, so no-one would notice me. And then I thought, ‘I’m going to be a hate figure for kids everywhere, they’ll be booing me in the street!’. But they actually find it funny, which has been a real revelation, there’s a touching affection for him. I suppose his alibi is the cat, because people love somebody who loves cats, I assume that’s why they forgive me.”
Most pleasing of all about being in Harry Potter is the extra “grandad points”, says David.
“The eldest, aged seven and five, take figurines and pictures and things into school and say, ‘my grandad’s Mr Filch!’ Hilaria, the eldest, has seen the first film on the big screen, she’s been round the studio and all that, I tell you I’m quids in! I love that.
“They also love the fact that I behave like a kid when I’m with them, I get very silly, they’re always telling me that.”
It’s also one of the reasons he’s excited in being in the new Chicken Run animation, which also stars Thandiwe Newton and Zachary Levi. “It’s not coming out until next year, but my eldest are already saying they want to come to the premiere. I’ve been enjoying recording it enormously, it’s such an iconic film, but I couldn’t tell them until last week because of a confidentiality clause, especially as they’ve already started to tweet and stuff. They were really excited when I told them.
“I’m also doing voiceover for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, playing Geppetto. It’s lovely because he’s a brilliant director, and because you can go out to work and be back home by tea time, you don’t have to be away from home. I do need to spend more time with my wife and family.”
- The Responder is on BBC 1, tonight and tomorrow at 9pm
