Line of Duty star Daniel Mays previously shared with fans how becoming a dad for the first time “wasn’t in the game plan”.
Actor Daniel, 46, appears on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch this weekend ahead of the release of new Disney+ bare-knuckle boxing drama A Thousand Blows. Daniel joins the likes of Stephen Graham, Malachi Kirby, and Erin Doherty in the cast for the Steven Knight series.
But dad-of-two Daniel shared in 2023 that even though fatherhood initially left him “all at sea”, it is is the greatest role he’s ever obtained.
Line of Duty actor Daniel Mays on becoming a dad
Speaking with The Big Issue in February 2023, Daniel recalled how his own parents worked all hours to afford to pay for their son to go to stage school.
He explained how much he felt he owed them for their sacrifices. And the Ashes to Ashes star noted how when his own son made his stage debut in the West End as a youngster it “was the proudest day of his life”.
The Essex-born star is also believed to share a daughter with his wife Louise Burton. They reportedly married in 2016.
Daniel also said he’d reflected about being an actor has allowed him to travel the world, and support a family of his own. He indicated he could never have imagined that could happen to him as an actor. But he would counsel his younger self to take fatherhood in his stride, if he could do so.
He went on: “I’d tell my younger self there’s no perfect time to become a dad. The first time it happened it was not on the cards, let’s just put it that way. It was a kind of, oh my god moment. I was all at sea with what was going on, because it wasn’t in the game plan at all. Looking back now, it wasn’t a curse in any way.”
‘Fatherhood made me a better person’
Daniel continued: “It was an absolute blessing to me, because it forced me to become responsible. It actually made me a better person and a better actor, it galvanised me. Now I know it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
He joked: “And here I am now, sitting here, married with 2.4 children and a little white dog at my feet.”
Read more: Line of Duty star Vicky McClure shares her heartbreak over death of family ‘hero’
Sunday Brunch airs on Channel 4 this Sunday 23 February from 10am.
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