Life lessons with actor Jason Watkins
Award-winning actor JASON WATKINS (53), most recently on TV in a new ITV crime drama, chats to Yours
■ Helping others is so important
My wife Clara and I lost our two-and-a half year-old daughter, Maude, to sepsis on New Year’s Day 2011. The physical and emotional trauma of losing your child is overwhelming. It’s a very dark pit you feel you’ll never get out of. That’s why I am proud to be a patron of Child Bereavement UK and raise awareness of the charity’s work. They provide a vital touchstone giving families the practical tools to help carry them through loss and support to rebuild their lives. It’s also a way of saying, ‘You’re not alone – people have been through what you are going through’.
■ I like being a good guy
It’s nice to be playing a good guy for a change in the new drama McDonald & Dodds. The type of characters I usually play aren’t all bad but it’s fair to say they’re a bit weird – like the infantile Roger in the sitcom Hold the Sunset. In McDonald & Dodds I play Detective Sergeant Dodds, a nice, unassuming, mild-mannered police officer. He doesn’t bang his own drum and has mostly been dealing with cold cases behind the police station desk for 12 years. Things change when newly-promoted Detective Chief Inspector McDonald is transferred to Bath from London. She also happens to be a very clever young woman. Everyone thinks he’ll mess up, but in fact she recognises Dodds’ hidden talents and gives him confidence. She brings out the best in him.
■ Accents are interesting
My character’s Bath accent is pretty strong and it’s not an easy dialect to master. It is quite different to other parts of the West Country. I worked with a voice coach who was brilliant and we broke the accent down to make it easier to master. But the best thing was to keep talking to people who have lived and worked in Bath all their lives. I kept asking one of the electricians on the production to say things so I could get it to be as accurate as possible. The last thing I want is for Bathonians to listen to me and say I’ve got the accent all wrong.
■ A Dad’s pride means a lot
No matter how old you are, I think it’s still lovely to know you’ve made your dad proud of you. My dad and I watched the first two episodes of the latest series of The Crown
(the netflix drama about the Queen’s reign) together.
I play Harold Wilson.
It was great to have
Dad by my side – he doesn’t get out to the theatre much and doesn’t have Netflix, either. He didn’t tell me to my face that he was proud of my performance – he’s not from a generation that does emotional stuff – but he told my parents-in-law, which was lovely.
■ Working with John Cleese was a joy Working with John in the sitcom Hold the Sunset lived up to all my expectations. I’m a huge fan and it was a real joy working with him. He’s very versatile - a brilliant actor who is subtle and has a great ability to make you laugh. John also has a streak of anarchy in him that he’ll never lose. I’m very fond of him.
■ McDonald & Dodds, a two-part drama, is available to watch on ITV hub.
■ For more details about Child Bereavement UK’s work call 0800 028 8840 or visit www.childbereavementuk.org
■ Jason Watkins was talking to Alison James.