TIMOTHY SPALL

Actor Timothy Spall OBE, 60, stars in British romcom Finding Your Feet with Imelda Staunton and Joanna Lumley. He lives in London with his wife, Shane, and they have three grown-up children.

Tell us about your new role…

I play Charlie, a pot-smoking antique furniture restorer and jazz lover who lives on a narrowboat in Maida Vale. He’s also a member of a dance class, which is where he meets Sandra (Imelda Staunton). Immediately, in the best romcom tradition, they don’t get on at all. It’s when Charlie and Sandra first dance together that a connection is made. The power of dance can’t be overestimated!

Other members of the class include characters played by Joanna Lumley and Celia Imrie. None of you are in the first flush of youth… Definitely not, and being able to dance and see others of my age dancing was one of the best things about this film. What I found touching was that, although older people may dance with varying degrees of skill, there’s always a sincerity about it. Dance shows up the experiences of their lives – both sorrows and triumphs.

With all the dancing, it must have helped that you’ve recently improved your fitness and lost 5st in weight. How did you achieve it? The usual way, I’m afraid. Although food is lovely and exercise is horrible, I stopped putting things in my mouth that make you fat and started walking everywhere.

You battled leukaemia nearly two decades ago. Did the experience change you at all?

In some ways it did. Cancer puts a

scar through your soul and I don’t know if it ever truly heals. At the time, it felt profound. I can remember going into a park and looking at a tree and thinking, ‘That will do me. That tree, right here and now.’ Just to be alive and to be seeing it. But you can’t stay in that state of profundity. In the end, what you want most is a normal life and the simple luxury of a moment of boredom, which, when you’re dying, you don’t have.

It must have helped to have

Shane, your wife of 37 years, by your side? Immeasurably. Our relationship has got stronger over the years. But, then, when you’ve considered the possibility that one of you isn’t going to make it, every day feels blessed.

Your son Rafe has followed in your footsteps. Did you worry about him being an actor?

I did, because the life of an actor is a lot harder than it looks. In the early days, I used to make deals with God where I’d say, ‘Okay, I’ve had a good 12 months, now give the work to Rafe.’ Fortunately, he’s doing just fine on his own. The same is true of my two daughters, Pascale and Mercedes – one is a teacher, the other a textile designer.

You have eight grandchildren. Is that a role you enjoy?

I love it, but having grandchildren gives you a sense of time hurtling on. Finding Your Feet is in cinemas from 23 February