BBC David Morrissey’s life changed forever after split-second decision: ‘I suddenly started to panic’

Although David always looking forward to the future and what he can do differently, the actor remains deeply connected and proud of his past. The father-of-three now lives in London but is back in Liverpool as often as possible as many of his close relatives, including his two brothers and sister, all still live in Merseyside.

The Sherwood star spoke to the ECHO as he returned to his home town last week to express his support for the Everyman Theater’s ‘Everyone Starts Somewhere’ campaignN. The fundraiser has been launched to mark the famous venue’s 60th anniversary and hopes to raise £60,000 to contribute to the important role regional theaters play in making the arts accessible.

David’s first introduction to the acting world was through the Everyone’s Youth Theater so he was more than happy to lend his voice to the campaign and host the An Evening With show on October 24 to raise money for the cause. He said: “It’s where I started.

“I wanted to be an actor. My school didn’t do anything like that, so I kept asking people I met ‘where can I go to be an actor’ and someone told me about the Everyman Youth Theatre. I went in there and my life changed.

“I really suddenly felt like I was with my tribe of people. It asked questions about your life, the life you saw around you and turned that into drama. That’s where it started for me and (when my acting career started) change) ) taken seriously.”

David didn’t have a showbiz background, he grew up in a council estate Gnarled Ashnot far from where the legendary Ken Dodd lived. He was 14 years old when he mustered the courage to break the mold and pursue his acting dream by finding out what the Everyman Youth Theater was about.

David has vivid memories of the day he enlisted and changed the course of his life forever. However, he revealed that it almost all never happened because he hesitated while standing at the entrance of the youth theater and felt somewhat intimidated by the raw noise inside.

He said: “It was like a children’s playground with all the shouting. I knew then that walking through that door would change my life. And I didn’t go through it. I sat down and thought I didn’t. I didn’t know if I wanted my life to change. I suddenly panicked.”

However, David soon changed his mind again in a split second when his teenage self realized that there were other social benefits to joining the theater group. He laughed: “This very cute girl ran across the road and went through the doors. I thought, ‘oh, I’ll give it a try’. And that was it. I never really saw her again, but once I went through the door, that was it.

“It was interesting at the moment when I was really laying the bricks where I knew something was going to change. I was about to enter a different world with different opportunities and different people. And I was a little nervous about that .”

The rest is history as David’s turnaround set him on his way to becoming one of Britain’s most highly regarded actors. David thrived as part of Liverpool’s vibrant creative scene, where he was able to lean on the advice of actors such as Jim Broadbent, John Sessions and Tracey Ullman.

Being able to mingle so closely with successful stars gave David the belief that it was possible to make his dream a reality. He said: “I went to them and asked them, ‘I want to be an actor, how do you do that?’ And none of them told me to get lost. They were all very informative and friendly and told me about the drama school, agents, The Stage newspaper and other regional theatres.

“The inclusivity of the work was what I learned more than anything. (The Everyman Theater) demystified the profession and showed that acting wasn’t this rare place in HollywoodLondon, otherwise you had to go to Oxbridge to do it.”

David is incredibly proud of his Scouse roots and said growing up in the city made becoming an actor seem like a realistic career path. He said: ‘I’ve always been very grateful growing up in Liverpool because it takes the arts seriously and wanting to be an actor felt tangible.

“The one thing about The Beatles for me was knowing they walked the same streets as me. I used to work at the Everyman Bistro as a bartender I served drinks to the likes of Ian McCulloch and Julian Cope and the next night they were on Top of the Pops. They were just talented people who worked hard and it showed me that if you want it, it’s there.”

David eventually had to move to London to attend drama school, but he credited a number of Scouse traits with helping him stand out from his classmates and thrive. He said: “My work is about storytelling, communication and language. I think we’ve always appreciated that. We all love a good story, we all love a good joke. We all love a chat. That kind of things. It’s something that really serves me well when I’m away from home.”

David is also imbued with the defiant Liverpool spirit, which has been vital to his longevity in a notoriously cutthroat industry. He said: “I don’t apologize for what I want to do. I feel like I can do it as well as anyone else. Of course you need talent and courage and you have to do the work.

“But I feel like what the city gave me was the feeling of ‘it’s yours if you want it.’ Don’t let anyone talk you into it, don’t let anyone say no to you. As a city we punch above our weight, we have made an impact on the world in so many ways. And that was something that I could really take away.”

David said his hand was forced when he had to leave town to attend drama school in the 1980s. However, the actor is happy with how far Liverpool has come during his career as it is now a premier film destination, with David’s hit BBC show, Sherwood, one of many programs using the Merseyside backdrop.

He said: “I wouldn’t have left Liverpool now if I didn’t have to. I left because even if I got a job in Liverpool I’d probably be auditioning for it in London so it just made sense for me to do that .” movement.

“There’s a lot of work here in the North West now, so you don’t have to move to London. Also with auditioning you can do it on your phone. The world is getting smaller in a way, but you still have to (find ways to ) to step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself.”

Stepping out of his comfort zone is what David does best as he continues to stick to the vow he made 46 years ago when he confronted his fears to walk through the doors of the Everyman Theater for the first time. He said: “I’ve had moments in my life where I think if I take this job or if I move to this city, it’s all going to change. And I’m no longer afraid of that. I used to be really afraid of change and now I really embrace it.”

David is now excited to see what the next chapter of his stellar career will bring, as the list of his current projects is a testament to his continued versatility. The actor recently starred in his first real sitcom, Daddy Issues, and is currently filming a new psychological thriller, The Woman in Cabin 10, for Netflixbefore turning his attention back to season three of Sherwood.

It’s clear that the spark that led him to walk through the doors of the Everyman Youth Theater still burns brightly and the actor is determined to keep pushing the boundaries to see what he’s truly capable of. He told the ECHO that he has a lot more left in the tank before he starts thinking about what he has achieved in his remarkable career since making his on-screen acting debut in Willy Russell’s One Summer.

He said: “I feel like I’ll be looking back in another 25/30 years. Right now I’m more concerned with being present in my work and looking forward to the opportunities that arise. But I’m grateful that I can look back to my career so far and there are a lot of things, basically everything, that I would stand up for.”

You can find out more about Everyman’s Everyone Starts Somewhere campaign in honor of his 60th birthday here