03 July 2023 , 23:01
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Danny Dyer has told how he was nervous to leave EastEnders and go Down Under to take a leading role in new Channel 5 drama Heat.
The 45-year-old Londoner played Mick Carter in the BBC1 soap for a decade but decided to quit so he could take on other acting challenges.
In Heat, he plays married Steve Cameron as the action unfolds to the backdrop of the looming Australian bushfire season when two families go on a summer holiday to a secluded home.
As secrets and lies unravel it becomes a tinderbox, and not everyone will make it out alive.
Danny said: “It was a job that came up towards the end of my run at EastEnders. It was a huge decision and I didn’t know if I had made the right one.
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Danny as Mick in BBC soap (BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)“EastEnders has been such a huge part of my life – the people there and the security it brings. Then this job came up and I thought, ‘OK, this is the start of my new chapter.’ But I was very nervous.
“I hadn’t done any other acting jobs for nine years. I did other stuff, like The Wall, but this is standing on my own two feet, being the lead on something else.
“I literally wrapped on Tuesday at EastEnders. I went home, I got my suitcase, I packed a bag and left the next day to go to Australia. I was straight in the deep end.”
Danny in HeatDanny worked with Glasgow-born actor Darren McMullen who plays Steve’s close friend Brad in the four-part series.
The pair bonded over beers in the lead-up to filming.
Danny said: “I spoke to him on Zoom. I loved the fact he’s Scottish. That made it work. It saved me having to do an Australian accent. No one wants to see that.
Daughter Dani with her twins (danidyerxx/Instagram)“I said, ‘As soon as you get here give me a call. Let’s just go out.’ And we did. We had a good booze and a good chat.”
Since leaving EastEnders, Danny has also made a travel documentary with daughter Dani, who gave birth to twins while he was filming Heat.
Danny said: “I got the news about Dani when I was in Australia.
Danny as Moff in Human Traffic“I was so freaked out. I was jumping around the hotel room. I’m not going to lie. I was buzzing for her.”
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One of Danny’s first acting roles was as Moff in Human Traffic, a cult 1999 film about nightclubbing, and he believes a sequel is on the cards.
He said: “I love Justin Kerrigan [its creator]. He came to me before the pandemic and said he really wanted to make Human Traffic 2.
“I read the script and it was really clever. It was ‘what are those characters up to now?’ They wanted to do it for the 20th anniversary. It’s asking what rave culture is now compared to what it used to be. And it’s very different.”
However Danny is not sure whether John Simm, his original co-star, was available, adding: “For it to work we need all the cast.”
* Heat airs on Channel 5 on from Tuesday July 11 to Friday 14 at 9pm. Also available on My5.