The one lesson I’ve learned from life

Robson Green

ACTOR Robson Green, 54, is best known for his roles in Grantchester, Soldier, Soldier and Wire In The Blood, as well as fronting fishing programmes. Divorced, he lives in Northumberland and has one teenage son from his second marriage.

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a Man called Max Roberts is the reason I am an actor.

When I was 20 years old, I was training to be a draughtsman at the Swan hunter shipyard in Tyne and Wear. Max was the artistic director of an amateur dramatic theatre company, and it was in his gift each year to hand out two Equity union cards to promising young actors.

he told me that in the acting business, you couldn’t move for advice. But his tip was never to approach any job the way other people thought you should. Trust your instincts and treat writers as if they were your children.

It’s advice I’ve followed throughout the 34 years I’ve been an actor.

When I landed the role of Jimmy, the porter I played in casualty, I made it my business to befriend writer Ginnie hole. We were both fans of Dad’s army and she allowed me to plagiarise some lines from clive Dunn (who played lance corporal Jones) which perfectly suited the character I was playing.

Fast-forward three decades and I found myself cast as Geordie Keating in Grantchester, whose principal writer, Daisy coulam, has so brilliantly brought James Runcie’s books to the small screen.

We socialise a lot, so she’s come to know my speech patterns. This means that, when I receive a new script from her, I can hear myself coming off the page.

There has been only one occasion when I failed to follow Max’s advice. I was in a series with Jerome Flynn called ain’t Misbehavin’, written by the gifted Bob larbey, which followed the adventures of two wartime bandsmen. We started filming before the script was right — we were milking the money cow — and it was a flop.

That taught me a useful lesson and one of which Max would approve: if it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage.

THE latest series of Grantchester is available on ITV Hub.