MY SPLENDID ISOLATION

Actor

The ‘Shazam!’ star is enjoying some hilarious internet memes and listening to a lot of podcasts, but he misses playing football

What are you watching?

After finishing Tiger

King, I sat down with my wife and sons and wrote a list of all the films they should have seen, and we’re working our way through those in my DVD collection after dinner. I wanted to introduce them to things like Being

John Malkovich, old war

movies like Where Eagles Dare, Lawrence of Arabia

and Bridge on the River Kwai. Also on the list is

Tree of Life, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love and Moneyball.

What are you listening to?

I’m listening to a lot of podcasts, such as the Ballad of Billy Balls, which is set in late Seventies New York and is about a girl’s attempts to discover a punk singer called Billy Balls. I’ve also been

Family viewing: Strong is introducing his sons to the likes of Where Eagles Dare listening to Anton Lesser, whom I played with at the RSC in the Eighties for

Richard III, read the new Hillary Mantel novel, The

Mirror and the Light. In terms of music, I have BBC Radio 6 on all the time. I love Craig Charles’s funk show and Cerys Matthews’s show. I even enjoy all the eclectic rock stuff.

What are you reading?

I brought down a whole bunch of scripts to our little place down in Sussex. I always find reading for pleasure diversionary and not as profound as something I’m going to be performing on stage. I did enjoy the coming-of-age story my wife wanted me to read called The Art of

Fielding by Chad Harbach, about a college baseball player aiming for a national championship.

What are you working on now?

There will be another

Shazam! movie. People are realising superheroes can be funny, which is good.

One thing that made me laugh this week

All of my Whatsapp groups, from my university friends to fellow actors, are sending me amazing memes. One is this video of an earnest man in big glasses who says he loves dancing, and suddenly appears in a leotard to do these funny moves in slow motion. There’s also a sixtysomething bald Irish guy who has taken it upon himself to teach everyone stretches, but every stretch he does leaves him groaning in agony. These legends remind me of how someone once told me the definition of camp was “failed seriousness”, which feels rather apt.

What I can’t wait to do once this is all over

I’m itching to get back to football with my friends in the garden. I love the camaraderie and skill of six- or seven-a-side. I’m missing it so much.

Watch Mark Strong read maritime classics on

Krakenory for Kraken Rum, a Jackanory-inspired online show which sees guest narrators from entertainment read maritime classics