Saturday, 9 May 2020

Interviews Interview with Dion Davies by Djak Forrest



Away back in 2006, and the first ever episode of Torchwood was broadcast. Gwen Cooper, a WPC at the time was serving coffee to a group of detectives discussing the murder weapon, she had seen, somewhere but unsure where. After the head police detective talks about the weapon, a younger detective takes the chair and it’s this detective, played by Dion Davies, that we had the good fortune to catch up with recently.

Hi Dion, who or what influenced you to become an actor, and what was your first acting role, be it from school or professional?

Dion: I think my Dad was my first influence to become an actor, or at least want to make people laugh as he was always making us laugh at home, telling jokes or singing songs like ‘Bing Bong’! I think Harrison Ford was probably the first actor I noticed and thought about emulating, after watching him in Star Wars and Raiders - probably the coolest actor ever!

My first acting role at school was probably playing Colonel Tom Parker to Mathew Rhys’s Elvis in our school production of the King’s life.

Professionally my first acting role was a drug dealer called Wazz in the S4C police drama ‘Y Glas’ which I loved playing.

Are you mostly a theatre actor?


Dion: I do work a lot in the theatre which I love very much but over the years I’ve worked quite consistently in tv, in particular for S4C.

With theatres closing and productions halted due to the COVID-19 virus, how will this affect your livelihood and do you have a Plan B – something to fall back on for an income, in that time? 

Dion: This pandemic is an awful catastrophe and has affected all walks of life, but I think will have a longer lasting effect on our business as nearly all our work depends on working in close proximity, either on stage or in the studio. Unfortunately, other than a few Zoom Monologues here and there, and maybe creating your own YouTube character living in lockdown, it seems that I’m unemployed until things are back to normal - if that will ever happen? As I’m self-employed and have been since 1997, I’m now on the HMRC waiting list - hopefully I’ll be owed some kind of payment in June. But it’s worrying times definitely!

I’m also sorting out our house and garage at the moment, ready for a big car boot sale once lockdown ends, which hopefully won’t be too much longer.

When you were starting out and perhaps before you became a full-time actor, what jobs did you take to keep a roof over your head?


Dion: I’ve pretty much been acting since I was a teenager, doing different tv dramas like Snow Spider and Monstrous, but once I was in Uni and since that I’ve always worked between jobs. I used to work in lots of bars in Cardiff, my favourite was a pub called ‘The Newt & Cucumber’ which was great. I also worked on a Pub/Nightclub called Kiwi’s which was an experience - some wild nights in those days! I also worked in retail sales for companies like Boots, Burton, Debenhams and then landed a sales job in British Gas where I was top sales man, winning a trip for two to Amsterdam which was pretty sweet!

You were in the first ever episode of Torchwood, as the police detective in Everything Changes, was this the first time you had worked with Eve Myles and have you worked with her since?


Dion: Torchwood was the first and only time I’ve worked with Eve, but I had known Eve for a long time because she used to go out with my best friend in Uni. She hadn’t changed a bit when we filmed and was as lovely as when I knew her ten years prior.

Do you have any fun memories of that time in Torchwood that you can share with us?

Dion: I don’t remember much of the filming day actually because I had flown back from Hong Kong the night before, so I was pretty jet lagged! Luckily, I knew Gwyn and Eve who were both in the scenes with me so they helped me through the day. I do remember meeting John Barrowman at lunch time and as you can imagine he was very funny and ‘fabulous’!!!

Have you voiced any characters for Audio – either with Big Finish or AudioGo, or another Audio production?

Dion: I’ve voiced a lot of cartoons over the years, mostly for S4C children’s programmes like Beyblades, Toot the Tugboat, Fireman Sam and Cloudbabies.

Have you been in other Whoniverse roles, from Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures or Class?

Dion: Unfortunately, not, although I did audition for a role in the Sarah Jane Adventures, but it was not to be!

What’s been the hardest role to tackle in your career so far?

Dion: The hardest role I’ve performed was on the stage when I played Cheswick in The Torch Theatres production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest which was the most challenging yet rewarding character I’ve had to play. It was very intense as we (the patients in the institution) were on stage for the duration of the play and had to be completely immersed in our characters from beginning to curtain down. But I loved the challenge and it’s been my favourite role ever.

Outside of acting, how do you relax, chill? What are your hobbies?

Dion: Well, up until late last year I was very heavy (weight wise) and loved sitting down watching all sports, watching movies and reading. But then I decided to get fit and started walking, I could only walk for about 20mins at a time back then, but now I’m up to jogging 10k on a weekly basis so onwards and upwards.

As well as acting, have you worked behind the camera?

Dion: Yes, over the years I’ve worked as a runner/researcher for a few tv companies. I’ve co-written two series of a kids tv show called Cic in 2001/02 and then produced and performed in a kid’s comedy series for S4C in 2018 called Doniolis - a kind of Welsh Chuckle Brothers.

When we last spoke you were in a production in North Wales, can you tell us anything about this?

Dion: Yes, I was filming a cameo role in an episode of a new S4C sitcom called Rybish. It’s about a group of rubbish/recycling workers and their day to day lives at the depot. I play a depressed IT specialist with a bit of a hygiene problem.

Have you voiced any characters for video games?

Dion: No I haven’t, but I would love too, if anybody’s reading this and wants to offer me a job! I like to think I’m pretty good at Star Wars character voices so any Star Wars games would be a dream job.

Are you a rugby or football fan? Which team do you support?

Dion: I’m a massive Liverpool fan and so is my son. We’ve been to Anfield twice and watched Liverpool win 5-0 on both occasions. I’m also a massive rugby fan and support both the Blues and the Scarlets as I’m from Cardiff but live in West is Best - Llandeilo!


If you could be in any film, with any actor/actress, in any genre, which would it be and why?

Dion: I think some of my previous answers will have given clues to this next answer, as I’m a massive Star Wars geek/fan it would have to be Empire Strikes Back with Harrison Ford and the gang. It’s my favourite film from the franchise, with some of the most iconic scenes and lines in cinema history, spoiler alert coming up - ‘I am your father!’

When you take an acting role, do you often accept it because of the director involved in the production? If not, what draws you to the character you have to play?

Dion: To be honest I don’t think I’m at the level to be turning work down because of who the director is, but it definitely ups my interest and craving for the work if I know the director. A good example of this is when I auditioned for Kevin Allen to be in his Under Milk Wood, I really wanted to work with him as Twin Town was and still is one of my favourite movies. The enthusiasm and passion Kevin had for the movie in the audition room was very inspiring and made me want the role of Cherry Owen even more - luckily, I got it, and probably had one of the favourite acting experiences of my career.

Have you played a ‘real life’ character – someone from a crime documentary, or a biopic of someone in a film?

Dion: I played a soldier named Corporal Wiggs in a play called ‘Halt Who Goes There?’ for Theatr Na Nôg in 2004/2009 and he was one of the guards at Camp Island Farm which was in Bridgend, and it’s where a group of German soldiers escaped the prisoner of war camp which was situated there.


Are other members of your family or immediate family involved in the acting profession?

Dion: Not really, my Auntie Sian was a costume designer for years before retiring, and my niece Elan is a budding actress and has already been in a few tv programmes so hopefully will follow in my footsteps. She’s one of the youngest ever people to be accepted into the National Youth Theatre so her future looks bright, the future looks Davies! Sorry about that!

Since streaming channels are the way forward these days, are you in any productions that we can see you in this year?

Dion: Unfortunately, not, but I’m hoping to get some nice auditions once this lockdown is over and everything is back to normal.

In a large portfolio of photographs of his time in theatre and in television, many of which adorn this interview article, I spy a photo of Dion with a well known actor from stage, screen and television. When did you meet Ron Moody?


Dion: I worked with him in 2006 when we toured all of Wales’s main theatre venues with A Christmas Carol, he played Scrooge and it was an awesome experience and I learnt a lot from him, we got on well!

Are there any productions that you’ve been working on that we can look out for when everything (fingers crossed) goes back to normal again?

Dion: I happen to be in a sketch programme on S4C at the moment called Hyd y Pwrs which you can find on S4CClic, and ‘Rybish’ the sitcom will be out later in the year I’d imagine. Hopefully if the Torch Theatre re opens in the Autumn I’ll be back there playing the Dame at Xmas and maybe performing in another show fingers crossed, so keep an eye out.

Thank you, Dion, for an awesome interview. Stay safe and well.

Photos courtesy of Dion Davies





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