Nigel Havers chats to Yours
TV actor NIGEL HAVERS, 68, on the secret to his long-lasting career, staying healthy and the importance of never giving up…
■ I love taking on new challenges
I am presenting a new daytime show on BBC1 called The Bidding Room, which has been popular in Europe. Each programme sees people bring in objects, have them valued by our expert and then enter a room full of dealers bidding on them. One person came in with a battered old chair he had picked up from the skip and he sold it for £600! I love it so much and it’s very different to acting but it is so nice not to have to learn lines and have the freedom not to worry about anything and simply focus on the people. We hope it will be a hit and if it is, I like it so much I could do it forever!
■ It’s odd not to be working
I love working hard. Luckily we had finished filming The Bidding Room before the lockdown but we had to stop filming in the middle of my new drama for ITV, Finding Alice, with Keeley Hawes. I’ve got a queue of other projects too. It does feel odd not to be working.
■ Routine is important My wife, Georgina, and I have been really strict. We have not been eating too much over the last couple of months while at home. When you are not doing anything, it is easy to sit around eating and drinking! We have both said, ‘hang on we had better not do that or we will get bigger and bigger!’You have to be careful to stick to a routine.
■ Saying yes opens doors
My secret to career longevity is to not say no! I don’t tend to turn much work down, which is the secret to keeping on working. A friend of mine is quite choosy but I say ‘why not, it will be great’.
■ Missing friends
One hugely influential person in my life (other than family) was the late actor, Warren Clarke. He was a very close friend and a huge influence on me. We met on telly when we were both very young and then we made a series together. Sadly he died a few years ago and I miss him. He was a good sounding board. I would say ,”Shall I do that?” And he would always reply, “Of course, you idiot!”
■ Family is everything What has been nice in recent months is spending time with my wife who is really pleased I am home rather than working. We are having a lovely time. We have been Facetiming our family to keep in touch but they only live a mile and a half away and so the other night, we just had to go and stand far apart, wave and blow kisses at each other. Those little things do keep you going.
■ Optimism is a key
I’ve always been a glass half full kind of person. Even at times like these, it is important to wait and see what happens, carry on and not cancel things way in advance. I have always been an optimist and yes, you might have to edit some of this year out but it will go, we will find a vaccine for the Coronavirus and it will all sort itself out.
And finally…
■ What advice would you give to your 18-year-old self? I would tell my 18-year-old self that you can’t prepare too much! It is my motto. I was quite nervous when I was 18 but I have found that it is important if you are doing a play to rehearse it until you drop! Fred Astaire’s dancing with Ginger Rogers wasn’t done by accident. They rehearsed each one for a month.
■ The Bidding Room is screened every weekday on BBC1 and then afterwards on BBC iPlayer
■ Nigel was talking to Christine Smith