David Bradley: ‘It was great to be in Game of Thrones. People from all over the world hate me!’

David Bradley has a challenge for Paul Whitehouse: eclipse me. 

“For the new [Harry Potter] cast, the pressure must be on for them to wipe out our memory!” the 83-year-old tells Big Issue. “Good luck to them.” 

Bradley boasts a storied six-decade career: his IMBD features an intimidating list of “grouchy and malicious” characters, including the dastardly Walder Frey in Game of Thrones and a gun-wielding farmer in Hot Fuzz. His theatre work has earned him a Laurence Olivier award; a turn in Broadchurch nabbed him a Bafta. 

But for fans of a certain age, he is perhaps best known for playing Argus Filch, the cantankerous Hogwarts janitor in the Harry Potter movies – a role Whitehouse will inherit in the forthcoming TV adaptation. 

“I’m a big fan,” Bradley says. “I’m a bit worried, because he’s funny. He’s very good, and I think he’d be a brilliant Filch. I’m just glad he wasn’t around when I was auditioning!” 

Bradley did not set out to tread the boards. In the 1950s, he started a career as an apprentice at Cooke, Troughton & Simms, training in optical instrument manufacturing. But a trip to the pictures – watching Laurence Olivier in Richard III – and an accidental casting in a youth club production of Julius Caesar changed the course of his life. Three failed drama school auditions followed. 

He persisted, and it paid off. Over six decades on stage and screen, he has been kings and fools, cops and killers, priests and madmen – and, at various points, both a druid and a vampire hunter. At 83, he’s still working, most recently starring in new thriller movie My Sister’s Bones.

He chatted to Big Issue all about it – and why he’s not throwing in the towel any time soon. 

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Big Issue: What first made you want to be an actor?

David Bradley: I’d never read a play or seen a play. I just joined a youth club. There wasn’t much to do – table tennis, a dartboard and Elvis Presley records. One evening, the youth leader gave me a cup of tea and said, “Take this down to the basement and Mr Pickering in drama.”

I knocked on the door, and a fearsome voice said, “Come in.” I went in, and he took the tea off me and handed me a piece of paper. He said, “Speak that, boy.” I read this line from Julius Caesar, which I didn’t know, of course, and he said, “Wow, marvellous, congratulations. You’ve got the part. You’re playing Mark Antony.” The following week, a snotty nose kid came knocked on the door, and he asked him to read another line. He was dreadful, awful. Mr Pickering said, “Marvellous. Congratulations. You’ve got the part.” By then, I realised I’d been part of a recruitment drive, a desperate one as well. 

But it was too late. I was in love with this language, even though I didn’t really understand what I was saying.

What might have happened if you’d not joined drama?

Well, I got an apprenticeship in engineering. That’s what your dad said to you at the time, get yourself a trade, lad. And I did. I just spent my days looking at the clock, waiting for it to be over. 

Read more:

• Why now is the perfect time to rewatch Our Friends In The North – one of the greatest TV series of all time
• Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke: ‘Surviving brain injuries gave me a fire to keep going’
• How the Harry Potter TV series can fix the wizarding world

You’ve worked with some of the greats – including Sir Laurence Olivier.

I spent two years at the National at the Old Vic, and Olivier was my boss. The last ever play he did was The Party by Trevor Griffiths. I was understudying the lead part. One day the casting director said, “We’re not sure if [the lead] is going to make it tonight. We need you to rehearse. Olivier had a 25-minute monologue in the middle of it. And he said, ‘Shall I just top and tail it?’ [cut it down].”

I wasn’t going to miss out on an opportunity of working with Laurence Olivier. So I said, “Would you mind doing the whole speech?” He did it! Nobody saw it, because it was an empty auditorium, but it didn’t matter. I worked on stage with him. Of course, Ronnie turned up for the evening show. I never got chance to do it. But I stood in the wings on his very last performance when he knelt down and kissed the stage
on the curtain call. It was rather special, because I idolised him.

You played Argus Filch in Harry Potter. Paul Whitehouse is playing that role in the new TV series. Have you spoken to him?

No, I saw him once at Harry Potter studios. It was some event or something, and we nodded to each other. I’m a bit worried, because he’s funny. He’s very good, and I think he’d be a brilliant Filch. I’m just glad he wasn’t around when I was auditioning. For the new cast, the pressure must be on for them to wipe out our memory! Good luck to them.

There’s a new Game of Thrones play at the RSC. Would you reprise the role of Walder Frey?

It was just great to be a part of. People from all over the world hate me. But I think that ship has sailed, to be honest. You do it, and it’s time to move on.

What’s your big issue at the moment?

When my son got married about 10 years ago, he wanted a wedding band, and he wanted me to be the frontman. I had to learn 14 songs. And I thought: I enjoy this more than anything. Now we’ve got a small band where I’ve been working on a show that we do gigs for guide dogs in my local pub. We’ve done small theatres in the area for different charities like Zoe’s Place children’s hospice.

What was your dream when you were young?

I wanted to be a footballer for York City, and my hero was a centre forward called Arthur Bottom. If we had a player with that name now, can you imagine the ribbing he would get from the opposing fans? But we were a bit more polite in the ’50s.

Did you enjoy filming My Sister’s Bones?

It was just a really nice experience in a great location; Whitstable, down on the beach. It was a lovely script and original. I always go by that, whatever the situation is, whether it’s a 20-minute short film or something like My Sister’s Bones, or Potter; if the writing is great, I jump at it before they can choose someone else.

What’s next?

If it’s a great piece of writing… but when you get to this age, you want to balance your time a bit more. I’ve got six grandchildren now. Now I’ve got to take it easier. You have to keep finding a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Painting, a bit of writing. But I still love filming. You can get older, but don’t get old – that’s what I was told. 

My Sister’s Bones is available to watch on streaming services now

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