Sir David Jason has discussed the "friction" that could occur on set during his long and celebrated career in acting while speaking about how much he values good people politics.
The 85-year-old beloved performer has graced screens for decades, famed for his portrayals of Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses and Granville in Open All Hours, but conceded it hadn’t always been easy.
Sir David gave the fascinating industry insight while speaking with Eamonn Holmes and Paul Coyte in the first episode of their all-new podcast, Things We Like, which GBNews.com exclusively heard ahead of its release on May 8.
To that end, the legendary actor revealed one of the aspects of life he likes was quite simply: "People".
Sir David has starred alongside some comedy legends in his time
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Sir David explained that, given the nature of his job as an actor and the length of his career, he comes into contact with a lot of people. Thankfully, the overwhelming majority of those interactions were very positive ones.
The 85-year-old has starred alongside a veritable who’s who of British comedy royalty, including Nicholas Lyndhurst, John Challis and Ronnie Barker.
"Most of the time they’re lovely, warm, rewarding, clever, talented and you can admire them and think ‘how does he do that? Or how does she do that?’ They’re great," the actor glowed.
However, Sir David admitted that he will occasionally come across someone "who is a pain in the tuchus" and added the key characteristic of those problematic individuals was "taking themselves too seriously".
Sir David revealed the 'friction' that some individuals could create while filming
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The comment prompted laughter from both Eamonn and Paul who asked the actor if those difficult characters were found in life or specifically on the job, to which Sir David curtly confirmed: "Both."
While the 85-year-old did not name names, he explained the "tensions" that such individuals bring to a working environment by disrupting a mutually supportive team dynamic.
"When you’re working, it’s wonderful to work as a team. I’m a great believer in the team," Sir David expressed, using the collective effort of the presenters, producers and bookers it took to make the podcast he was appearing on.
"You need a team around you," he reiterated but added that one “must appreciate that team”.
"When you don’t, that’s when the friction starts," the actor explained, despairing at the creation of rigid hierarchies where those above take out their own treatment on those below. He considered this "a self-fulfilling process" that fails to get the best out of anyone.
Eomonn Holmes posed the questions towards Sir David
THINGS WE LIKE
Elsewhere on the podcast, Sir David opened up about the BBC's decision to withdraw a job offer in one of Britain's biggest shows from right under his nose. The actor explained he had been initially offered the role of Lance Corporal Jones in the iconic sitcom Dad’s Army.
"I was called to the BBC as hundreds of actors are all the time, constantly turned over. I was asked through my agent, who put me up for that part of Corporal Jones, to meet the producer and the director at the BBC, which I duly did.
As Paul and Eamonn chuckled, Sir David delved further: "So I did all that and they were so impressed... they said, 'You've got the job! Would you like to do it?' I thought, 'Would I like to do it? It's a role on television... yes!'
However, after leaving thinking he’d landed a huge job at 11am he was phone later in the afternoon by his agent saying: "I'm so sorry... You haven't got the job.' I said, 'What! I just went for an audition and he said I'd got the job.' He said, 'Yes, but the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing'."
"I said, 'What do you mean?' What had happened was that Bill Cotton (BBC Head of Entertainment) had had a word with Clive (Dunn). He'd then told him, 'We've got a job for you after you've finished with Spike Milligan'."
