The Wylde Interview: Callum Woodhouse
Interview by David Newton / Portraits by Etienne Gilfillan
Callum Woodhouse landed his first big role – that of Leslie Durrell in ITV’s feel-good Sunday-night series The Durrells – fresh out of acting school, and the fourth, and final, series is on right now. And with roles in Cold Feet and Father Brown under his belt as well, he seems to be racking up a good amount of quality TV drama to his name. We decided Woodhouse is most definitely one-to-watch right now and sat down to grill him about dreams, dogs and Dexys!
Wylde: How would you say you got your first big break?
It’s entirely The Durrell’s. Any other amazing opportunities I’ve had since then will have been helped by being a part of that show.
What do you love/like most about being in The Durrells?
Getting to fly out to Corfu for two months of the year is amazing, and getting to further explore the characters we’ve been portraying for so long now is obviously incredible – but the thing I love most is all the amazing people I get to work with.
We hear that you share our love for Eighties music! Where did this interest come from… and who are your Top 5 Eighties acts?
My parents very much shaped a lot of my likes and dislikes, so all of those bands were always playing in my house. Top spot is easily Dexys Midnight Runners then I would say Earth Wind and Fire, The Bee Gees, Spandau Ballet and The Jam.
What we got from looking at the pics from the shoot is your effortless ability to change the mood in a flash: fun and cheeky one minute… dark and serious/menacing the next – and lots in between. Do you gravitate towards any particular vibe professionally?
Not really actually, I’d like to try and be as diverse as I can with my roles and really explore as many different characters as I can. Funnily enough, when I started drama school I had a very linear idea of the type of people I’d portray. Since leaving, the roles I’ve had, have been the complete opposite of what I thought I’d do!
If you hadn’t become an actor, what would your Plan B have been?
I’ve really honestly never had a Plan B, much to my parents’ horror when growing up. They have always wanted me to have as many ‘strings to my bow’ just in case it didn’t work out, but I just thought that any type of doubt in my mind or backup was dangerous. It was all or nothing so thank God it’s worked out so far!
Have you had any strange dreams recently?
Actually I have! Me and my flatmates always discuss our weird dreams and since I’ve been trying to get into writing my own work with friends, dreams can be a great inspiration. The last really weird one I had was that I had this long, really serious and dramatic dream, where I found out that my mother had adopted me as a baby off of Björk... very odd!
We see you list Dogs and Acting on your Twitter description (in that order…we approve!) Do you have a dog… what type/name etc etc? We must know!
Dogs are the best thing in the world. I recently saw a Twitter video of Ricky Gervais talking about how being with dogs is the closest he feels when it comes to spirituality. I could not be more on the same page with him. Although I’ve never actually owned a dog, I’ve somehow built this extreme love for them on my own. I’d like my first dog to be a miniature Dachshund, then eventually I want Labradors, Spaniels and Staffys… I could go on and on.
What’s next? Do you consciously choose roles that are the opposite of what you’ve just done..or do you like to keep a mood going
Not really just whatever feels like an exciting project.
Callum Woodhouse is currently in The Durrells on ITV Sundays at 8pm
Grooming by Paul Rodgers
Photographer’s assistant: Paolo Navarino
Callum wears his own clothes