We met with Mark Williams in November to discuss his extensive career, passion for the industry, and his love for the Midlands.
Birmingham born Mark Williams, best known for his doting father figure role as Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter series, spoke of how he entered into the world of acting and the greatest parts of his career to date.
Mr Williams has starred in many varied performances and having made a career as a theatre actor working for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre along the way, Mark was opened to the wider public eye through his BBC appearances on ‘Alexei Sayle’s Stuff’, ‘Red Dwarf’, and much loved ‘The Fast Show’.
His most famous cinema role arguably is as Arthur Weasley which began in 2002 but among his well known film appearances are in ‘101 Dalmations’ in 1996 and ‘Shakespeare in Love’ in 1998.
When asked about the highlights of his career he said: “I don’t really do highlights or favourites but I have been very, very lucky with the people I have worked with.
“I worked with some great actors, John Goodman, Glenn Close, the Wife, Julie Walters, or ‘Julie Waltons’ (he laughs) as the kids called her, they didn’t quite zero it in when they were little.
“I think that’s probably been the highlight of my working life, I wouldn’t call it a career, it’s a bunch of jobs stitched together by hope and fear! (He laughs again) seriously!
“However, working with really good actors you are often working in really pressurised situations, that can be exciting you know, doing big films is exciting, as is working on the stage, as is working in television, live or recorded – It’s all been exciting, I mean properly exciting,” he said.
Having finished the filming for the fourth series of BBC production ‘Father Brown’, Mr Williams is currently filming his latest cinema role in ‘Heidi’, a Bollywood production based on a famous children’s book.
Mr Williams commented that his experience has so far been an interesting one: “Bollywood do things in a subtly different way, and it’s great, you think, oh wow that’s interesting”
“It’s based on a very famous children’s book which is about a little girl who lives in the mountains with her Granddad and she gets into lots of adventures.
“I play the village postman and policeman who are brothers, so a bit of a Tom Hardy job, just not so violent!”
Mr Williams says that the structure of the acting and television industry has changed a lot since he began.
“Actors did theatre, or television, or film, or advertising, they didn’t do anything in between.
“Young actors can now do a soap, a photo shoot, a promo, and that’s great!”
Mr Williams was commended the prestigious award of Baird Medal along with Best Male Acting Performance and Best Fictional Programme for Father Brown, at the Royal Television Society Awards Midlands Centre on November 12 2015.
