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Stainforthonline Interview

Adge Covell – David MacCreedy (Charlie - Faith)

Adge: Hello David. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Would you mind telling me about Charlie, the character you play in Faith?

David: Well…, he’s the deputy branch secretary, that’s the Newby branch of the NUM. So, he.., he’s kind of Gordon’s sidekick…, or assistant. Obviously he’s very heavily involved in the union. He works in the pit; he’s a miner, but his entire life is dedicated the union. He’s not married, no family, lives on his own, and the union and the miners is his thing.

Adge: Have you ever done any other work about miners?

David: Not about the miners, no, nothing like this. Obviously, being the age I am, as with most people, I remember the strike.

Adge: How old are you?

David: I’m thirty five

Adge: What’s your date of birth?

David: Eleventh of the second, sixty nine. Was you just testing me on that? (Laughs)

Adge: Yeah, that’s right. I’ll check it later. (Laughs)

David: I’m from a steel town, you know, so we weren’t massively affected by the strike, but my mam and dad were on strike for three months.

Adge: A steel town? Which town would that be?

David: Workington, in Cumbria. So I know what it’s like to be on strike, with my parents being on strike for three months. Obviously that’s not as long as twelve months, but from the acting point of view, to have an idea of what it’s like to be on strike, you can touch on it.

Adge: So your dad worked in the steel industry?

David: Yes, my mam and dad, yeah.

Adge: What kind of education did you have?

David: I had a good education. I went to grammar school in Workington, where I did A levels. Then I went off to drama school.

Adge: No thoughts of going into the steelworks like your dad then?

David: Well I decided to work there for six weeks. When I was at drama school, I came back and got a job, like a summer job there.., in the stores. I was really pleased I’d worked there in the end, ‘cos, I’d done odd jobs and that, for money to go to college and stuff, but I was pleased because all of my family worked at the steelworks. Both of my uncles worked there, my granddad worked there, and my mam and dad, so I enjoyed it. It was a good experience, and I think that when you’re doing something like this, you need an experience of working with a load of men. Whether it be miners, steelworks, bin men, fishermen, or whatever, you need to work like that with loads of men to understand what it’s like.

Adge: You say all your family worked in the steelworks. Were they active socialists?

David: No, they weren’t active socialists at all. Politics has never really featured very heavily in our family. I mean, the Labour party had always…, well the working MP, has always been Labour, forever. But, because it’s always been so far away, in Workington, so far…; I mean, it took me three hours to drive t’other day, from Workington to Donny. Because it’s so far out, we kind of tend to be forgotten about, and ignored. The politics kicked in when they were going to close the foundry at the steelworks, which is why they went on strike, and a lot of the people have supported the miners and stuff, but personally, politics was never a big issue.

Adge: What was it that prompted you to go drama school?

David: It was just something that I wanted to do. I joined a youth theatre. Did a play at school, then joined a youth theatre, and then joined a bigger one. When I was sixteen, I did a show in the west end, and in Edinburgh, in the festival, and I absolutely loved it. So it was kind of natural that that was what I wanted to do. I did my A levels first, which I hated doing, but it was worth it in the end. It seemed at that point like it was a natural progression to go to drama school. So, I finished my A levels, then spent the summer working on a tatie wagon, delivering taties, then I went to drama school. I got a lift off my mate, who was a long distance wagon driver. It was very working class you know, I’d just finished delivering taties and then I got a lift down in the back of this wagon. Drama school was brilliant, I really enjoyed it. It was worth going, you know.

Adge: When did you become interested in doing comedy, which you’ve been involved in a lot?

David: Comedy has always been my thing. I don’t do great deal of comedy on telly. I mean, everyone likes laughing…., but I always seem to play the straight man. Which is fine, but…, well.., it’s like with these lads, we have the crack and the banter, and that’s what keeps me going. That’s what keeps everyone going. But this is obviously a very serious subject, and very emotive, but, there’s got to be light moments in it. As with the stories I’ve heard from the lads. During the strike, it wasn’t all doom and gloom, there were the odd comedy moments, so that’s important to get it in too, because these lads never stop laughing and messing about and joking, and that’s part of it. Even though the message of the film is bleak and dark, there’s got be light moments hasn’t there?

Adge: You’ve done some work for kids’ TV haven’t you?

David: Yeah, I’ve done a fair bit of kids’ TV. I really enjoy that. I did a thing called…, Ripley and Scuff, which was good. It was like story telling. Then I did a series in Nottingham, a kids’ series, for slightly older kids. I’ve got a mate who writes kids’ series, and I do stuff with him. But it’s hard work, and if you’ve done a good performance and you see a load of kids laughing and they’ve enjoyed it, then it’s fantastic; especially when you’re getting the kids to get up and run about, and to do a bit of acting themselves. Or if they’re story telling, or reading, or dressing up, you know. It’s not just them sat watching telly; they’re actually joining in stuff. It’s well worthwhile.

Adge: You’re obviously a very versatile actor; is there anyone who you would say has influenced you?

David: Err… It’s a tricky question, is that. I did a movie a few years ago and Brian Glover was in it. I think he was from Barnsley. And I remember when I was a kid watching the Mystery Plays, that were on at the National Theatre, in London. Brian Glover played God. He had his Coal Board jacket on, and his miner’s helmet. I remember thinking “that’s superb”, because it was inspirational that he, an ex-wrestler from Barnsley, could play God at the National Theatre, and it opens the way for all of us. Then I did a movie with him, and I told him that. So, he was inspirational, but a lot of other actors have been, for different reasons. So, if I had to pick one it would be Brian Glover, also because there’re not many actors from Cumbria. So, yeah, Brian Glover.
I think all my favourite British actors…., well, there’s too many to name. If you watch things and they’re good, it makes you want to be good as well. Things like this..., Faith…., Billy, who wrote it, he’s a great writer.

Adge: Billy Ivory

David: Billy Ivory, yeah. He’s just had a series on that was fantastic.

Adge: That was “A Thing Called Love”

David: Yeah, “A Thing Called Love”. So you want to be part of it, you know. It’s a great story and he’s a great writer, so you want to be part of it.

Adge: Do you find it different working with David Thacker?

David: He’s unbelievable. I don’t know where he gets his energy from! But he’s there all the time and he’s a great director to work for. We haven’t gone over; we’ve never gone late; he doesn’t rip the arse out of it. He’s just there, bang, bang, bang. And his high energy just lifts everyone else up. So if he’s saying, “Come on, come on. Let’s do this, let’s do this”, he takes everyone with him, and that’s what you want with a director. You don’t want…, well, you know, you want him to be your friend and to be in charge, and know what they’re doing, and David…, he’s all three of those things.

Adge: Have you any plans about what you’ll be doing after you’ve finished with Faith?

David: Errrm…, just get Christmas out of the way really. I think that’s the main one. No, nothing at the moment. I’ve got erm…, I did a documentary…, I directed a documentary, a couple of years ago, about the Falklands War. I went to the Falklands on the twentieth anniversary, and that’s out and for sale now on DVD. So when I’ve finished on Faith I’ll probably go back to work on that and take care of the publicity and making sure the web site’s sorted and everything. So that keeps me ticking over in between. And then I’ll start all over again in January.

Adge: Well I’ll wish you the best of luck with that and finish by saying it’s been really nice talking to you. Thank you.

David: Thank you very much!

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