My usual first response is ‘Do you re
HE IS one of our most accomplished actors, immortalised as cranky caretaker Argus Filch in Harry Potter and odious Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, as well as the good guy for once as Doctor Who.
But despite his stellar career David Bradley is still surprised when he’s offered a part – and even wonders if there’s been a mistake. The Yorkshireman, who turns 80 in April, is back on our screens in The Responder, as Davey, a homeless man who helps Martin Freeman’s policeman character, Chris. He says: “I’m always quite surprised when a part comes my way. Sometimes
I think it’s a typing error. When I started as an actor I didn’t have any grand plan. I was just flying
VERSATILE David Bradley blind, grateful for any work that came along and I really still am. If anyone ha told me I’d be making things I make an working with the people I work with wouldn’t have believed it.”
As with all his roles, research w key to bringing the character to “Davey is based on a real hom less man called Johnny Welly w was a well-known character in th
Helens area of Merseyside,” he says. “They sent me YouTube footage of the guy. It was fun, I’d never played anyone quite like him.”
Of all the parts he has played, David says it is the Harry Potter films which will ensure he’s still being watched in decades to come. They also earn him extra “grandad points”.
“The eldest, aged seven and five, take figurines and pictures into school and say, ‘My grandad’s Mr Filch!’. I love that.”