Danny Dyer Developing Play About His Friendship With “Mentor” Harold Pinter
- Danny Dyer is developing an idea for a play about his relationship with Harold Pinter, considering playing either himself or Pinter if the project moves forward.
EXCLUSIVE:Danny Dyer is thinking about getting back on the boards.
The TV hard man and Rivals star told us he is developing an idea for a play about his close relationship with iconic Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter. The idea is in its early stages and Dyer is only just starting to sound people out.
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Dyer gave the play a working title of When Harry Met Danny . Were it to move forward, he said he would have to decide whether to play himself, or Pinter, who died in 2008 aged 78.
“I really like it and am excited about it,” Dyer told us. “I’d love to explore it more. I’m grateful for the years I spent with Harold and he was a real mentor to me.”
Dyer struck up a close friendship with Pinter at the start of his career when auditioning for his play Celebration. He went on to appear in two further Pinter plays. In 2020, he presented a Sky doc about their friendship titled Danny Dyer on Pinter.
Next month, Dyer will be in line to win his first ever BAFTA TV Award for Sky comedy Mr Bigstuff , but he told us he doesn’t think Pinter would have been too impressed with the nomination.
“Harold was very anti-establishment and that’s why I loved him,” he said. “He was a bitter man and always wanted me to be a bitter animal. So I think he’d say, ‘Get back in the theater and f**k the awards because that’s where you’re best’.”
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