Actor Dave Johns on 23 Walks – and Tom Hardy’s boots!

It all changed for Dave Johns in 2016.  I, Daniel Blake won the Palme D’Or at Cannes and the stand-up comedian from the North East was thrust onto the red carpet and the international stage – but now as a serious actor.  He won a BAFTA as well.

He’s back on cinema screens this week, but in the sort of role he never imagined for himself – a romantic lead.  In 23 Walks, he and co-star Alison Steadman meet each other while walking their dogs and, over a series of weeks, a friendship develops.  It promises to turn into something more, but putting previous relationships behind them proves to be more of an obstacle than they could have imagined.  And, as their individual circumstances change, it looks like they’ll never be together.

The actor talks to The People’s Movies’ Freda Cooper about how I, Daniel Blake changed his life almost overnight, as well as his other co-star, an Alsatian which goes by the name of Tilly in the film.  He also admits that, because of his comedy background, he’s always making people laugh on set.  And he looks forward to his next film, Blithe Spirit.  He plays the gardener – and wears Tom Hardy’s boots from Peaky Blinders!

23 Walks is released in cinemas on Friday, 25 September.  

Read our review of the film here.

About the Author

Freda Cooper

Editor

Freda is a Senior Writer at The People's Movies. A lifelong movie fan and a film critic for over ten years, Freda’s natural habitat is the darkened rooms frequented by fellow cineastes. She can also be found asking questions of some of the biggest names in the business – from Cate Blanchett to Daniel Craig or Mike Leigh to Pete Docter – or crafting reviews for a number of sites and publications, including The People’s Movies. And listeners to BBC Local Radio can catch her views on the latest releases. She always – and probably always will – cite The Third Man as her favourite film of all time. Her top ten? That’s a moveable feast …..

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