Dexter Fletcher: ‘I sat on Diana Dors’s knee and she said: “Aren’t you lovely!”’

Is it true Alan Rickman was your best man? Bauhaus66
It is. He was responsible for my wife and me meeting. I worked with Alan when I was 14 and he convinced my now-wife to cast me in Impresario of Smyrna at the Old Red Lion theatre pub in London, about 28 years ago. It seemed only logical that I asked him to be my best man. He took me to Ireland the night before the wedding to the premiere of a Pat O’Connell film – I forget which one – and we made it back in time for the wedding the next day.

Which line from Lock Stock gets quoted at you most often? chimpo2k
I have two. “Boy, keep your fingers out of my soup,” my first line in the film. And “It’s been emotional,” even though it’s Vinnie Jones who says it, because it’s become part of the lexicon.

Do you get free McDonalds for life [for doing the voiceovers to their adverts]? writeronthestorm
Never have been offered such a thing, although I do enjoy my work with them. If you know somebody, please put in a good word for me.

View image in fullscreen

Bugsy Malone, Sunshine on Leith, Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman: do you deliberately choose musicals, or do they just come your way? PaulMariner
A little of both. Sunshine on Leith was the most deliberate choice, because after directing my first film, the London gangster film Wild Bill, I got offered lots in a similar vein. My wife is an opera director; she’d seen the musical and said: “You should do this because no one would expect that.” When things like Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody come along, I’m very interested in exploring those challenges. I was brought on to Bohemian Rhapsody while we were rehearsing and prepping on Rocketman. I just came in and barked orders at people, and the film turned out rather well, so I’m very proud of that. With Rocketman, Elton was very clear: “Let’s not glamourise it. Keep it as honed and faithful as it can be.” Having had my own struggles in the past meant it was something I could speak of with a certain amount of authority. It gave the film that extra edge that I am also proud of.

Was being in Bugsy Malone as much fun as it looked? EddieChorepost
I was only on set for four days, but I do remember them quite vividly considering I was only nine. Pinewood had this incredible co-joined set where you could literally walk from the street, through the bookstore into the speakeasy. I remember watching Vivienne McKone, who plays Velma, do her dance number from the side of the stage. My hair was being cut off like a bowl and Jodie Foster made a moustache out of it. She was very funny. It’s always fun to watch it, just to remind myself that I was once cute and adorable.

View image in fullscreen

What are your memories of working with John Hurt and David Lynch on The Elephant Man? carffion23
David Lynch was very generous, funny, quirky, nerdy, artistic, creative and wore a Crombie and big hat. I went to the audition and he said: “You’ve got the job. I’m not going to see anyone else,” so I liked him for that. He would just point the camera at me and let me do stuff. My last day of filming was my 14th birthday, and they gave me a cake with a Disneyfied elephant on it, which I thought was strange because John Hurt did not look like Dumbo in any way. He was far more traumatic. Years later, I went to a lunch and was seated next to John. He said: “I never said to you at the time, Dexter, but you were really rather good in Elephant Man.” I said: “That’s very kind of you. You weren’t so bad yourself.” He said: “Yes, but I was supposed to be.”

You had a role in Ken Russell’s fantastic film Gothic. How did that come about and what was it like working with him? TheFall2007
I must have been 21, 22. It was this crazy film and I didn’t really understand what was going on a lot of the time, but Ken would shout and scream at people a lot. That was his way. I got on the wrong end of that a couple of times, but sometimes being shouted and screamed at can be good for you when you think everything’s roses. We had a lot of fun.

View image in fullscreen

You have three distinct, separate modes – icon of British kids’ TV, celebrated Hollywood actor and regarded director. I don’t have a question but I love you. Leobatch
Well, any admiration is gratefully received, so I’m thrilled. Thank you very much. That’s very kind – I love you, too. It’s amazing to think I’ve been in this business for 50 years. I haven’t really done much else. I started in a road-safety film when I was six years old with Todd Carty and Jon Pertwee, who was Doctor Who at the time. Then I did a film called Steptoe and Son Rise Again with Diana Dors. One of my earliest recollections is, aged six, sitting on her knee and her being very nice to me, saying: “Ooh, aren’t you lovely?”

The series Press Gang [1989-1993] was great fun, again in the company of great actors. Charlie Creed-Miles went on to play the lead in Wild Bill. Paul Reynolds turns up in Eddie the Eagle. Press Gang was so beautifully crafted and written by Steven Moffat. He was fairly smart then, and he’s gone on to prove it many times with Doctor Who and Sherlock.

I wouldn’t mind doing some more acting. Acting is nice because you get given what to wear, told where to stand, and told what to say. It’s rather nice compared with having to answer a million questions a day when you’re directing. Then again, directing is lovely because you get to spend 18 months or two years on a project and really shape it and develop it. Ghosted, my latest film, is a fun romance action movie that I had a really great time shooting out in Atlanta. To get my foot in the door on those big multimillion dollar movie sets was really exciting. I’m really proud of that as well.

This article was amended on 25 May 2023. Due to an agency caption error, an earlier version misidentified Jason Flemyng as Nick Moran in an embedded image.