Actor Eddie Marsan on the struggles of being a working class actor and the tyranny of toxic masculinity

He is an actor who would be hard to typecast, but Eddie Marsan always plays the villain. “I think it has a lot to do with my upbringing”, he says, “there was a lot of violence, criminality and a lot of toxic masculinity.” 

“I remember being afraid of white working class men. When you see Danny Dyer, Ray Winstone… they have an appeal to them, and I've never been able to do that. And it's because of my experience growing up within the white working class; there was always an element of fear.”

Today on Ways to Change the World, Eddie Marsan joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss his chaotic upbringing, lessons in Buddhist teachings, and how actors from privileged backgrounds can find success despite being “mediocre”. 

Produced by Imahn Robertson 

Warning: This episode contains offensive language