Danny Dyer 'had a lot of fear' around learning Japanese for Rivals role

Danny Dyer "had a lot of fear" around learning Japanese for his role in 'Rivals'.

The former 'EastEnders' star is set to take on the role of rough diamond businessman Freddie Jones for the TV adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper's novel 'Rivals', which will stream on Disney+, and at one point Danny feared he may not be able to deliver his lines in the language.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I had a great guy on WhatsApp giving me voice notes, but I had a lot of fear around it.

“I've never learned Japanese before. Why would I? Of course, I didn't quite know how to pronounce it. I did have one night where I thought, ‘I can't do this. They're gonna have to ADR it.’ But actually, I just put the work in.”

Another scene that terrified Danny during filming was singing live on a karaoke machine.

He added: “I had a lot of anxiety around the Japanese and singing karaoke in front of everybody when I didn't really know them.

"It’s great though, it’s great for Fred. It really shows how clever he is and how smart he is. He’s a grafter. He’s a businessman. What he's done is pretty incredible, he's way ahead of his time.”

The 47-year-old actor also believes that landing the part of Freddie could be a turning point in his career.

He said: “Playing a role where I look very different is important because I've not had many opportunities to do it and I think that that will maybe change a few people's perceptions of me.

“I have come across quite a lot of classism towards me that just spurred me on a little bit more, especially when I went into theatre.

“I didn't really feel like I belonged. I never trained, you see, so I wasn't very good at the rehearsal process of sitting round a table and breaking down your subtext and why you're saying stuff. I'm a very instinctive actor so it's all about just getting up on my feet and saying words.”

Rivals will be released on Disney+ on October 18th.