BBC News
Danny Dyer is back on the big screen with a film about a bloke trying to win back his missus.
Marching Powder follows the story of Jack Jones (Dyer), a football hooligan who feels increasingly irrelevant.
After some violent match day behaviour, Jack is arrested and given six weeks to turn his life around – or face prison. He also has to try to save his marriage.
But the real Danny Dyer met his partner when they were 13. They’ve been together more than 30 years, married for eight of them, and he likes to think he’s a bit of a romantic.
So, what love lessons can we learn from the former EastEnders actor?
Separate beds is the way forward
“I’m a snorer,” Dyer admits.
“You know what, snoring is just bad luck. Me and my wife have been around a long time and we have separate beds and the reason for that is, I unfortunately roar in the night.”
The 47-year-old says it’s rare to have been with your partner for over 30 years at his age. “We’re bringing up grandchildren – it’s a beautiful thing. My clan’s getting bigger and I’ve become more responsible now.
“I feel like I’ve grown up slightly and become an adult.”
Men need to open up
“Listen, I think it’s a bit of a myth that I’ve played the hard man role,” Dyer says. “In EastEnders, I played an alpha male that wore a pink dressing gown. I was a very sensitive soul.”
He says if you look at the Marching Powder poster, it’s easy to think he’s playing a hard man – but his character, Jack, isn’t. “He’s into football violence and he’s got a lot of issues around addiction, but he’s a good man.
“What is masculinity?” Dyer wonders. “When does it become toxic? It’s about being a decent human being.
“There’s nothing wrong with being masculine. But as men, we need to open up to each other and stand up to our mates and go, ‘no, I’m not coming out tonight – I’m going to spend a nice evening with my wife’.
“Me and my wife are actually going to therapy, couples’ help groups. And you know, your mates are all laughing but you go – no, no I love her.”
The art of seduction
When it comes to his romantic playlist, Dyer loves the somewhat unlikely combo of Luther Vandross and Jeff Buckley.
“Everybody Here Wants You – whack that on,” he says. And what’s his best chat up line? He replies immediately.
“Well, I’m Danny Dyer. I don’t need one. Whatever that means. Well, you know, fame and stuff, I don’t think I’ve ever needed to use a chat up line.
“Obviously I’ve been with my missus for so long and I went through a period where I was quite desirable to women, and all of a sudden I’ve become desirable again, even though I’m a grandad, a balding sort of lumpy grandad.”
Staying grounded
Dyer says his wife has grown with him and kept him grounded. “She’s a very special human being and she’s never really been fazed by my work.”
He says he comes from a working class family and the Marching Powder screening was “full of the working class lot that love our movies. And it’s always great to be around real people, as I like to call them”.
“You know, the real people that keep this country going – the underrepresented at the moment, the underpaid, you know, people just existing at the moment,” he says.
“We need more working class people in politics that know what it’s like to be working class. And we need more working class people in the arts. The most creative people out there – musicians, actors, whatever, are working class people. End of it, full stop.”
Dyer says Jack, his character in Marching Powder, is flawed but lovable.
“He’s got no right to still be with his wife – the way he treats her, he just keeps on getting it wrong.”
But he says audiences are hopefully rooting for Jack to save his marriage.
“To be a good patriarch is hard and every day is a lesson,” says Dyer. “Look after the ones around you.”
Fall in love with people’s flaws
“What is love?,” Dyer asks.
“It’s falling in love with people’s flaws, that’s why we stay with people, we meet people, we have a mask on that we’re so perfect and then we got to the next level where you take that mask off and it’s the weird, quirky stuff that you either go – see you later, you’re elbowed – or, ooh, I quite like that about you.”
Dyer says love is an interesting dynamic.
“We need more love in the world, by the way,” he says.
“Where’s all the love gone? Too much hatred and division going on.”
Marching Powder is out in cinemas from 7th March.