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Actor

1977-07-24 · London, England · Male

58 series in the catalog

Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in Human Traffic (1999), with other notable roles Billy the Limpet in Mean Machine (2001) and as Tommy Johnson in The Football Factory (2004). Following the success of The Football Factory, Dyer was often typecast in "hard man" roles, although it was this image that allowed him to present The Real Football Factories, its spin-off, The Real Football Factories International and Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men. Dyer has also worked in theatre, having appeared in three plays written by Harold Pinter, with whom he had a close friendship.

In 2013, Dyer joined the cast of the BBC soap opera EastEnders, in the role of Mick Carter, and remained in the series until 2022. He won the Serial Drama Performance award at the National Television Awards in 2015, 2016, and 2019. From 2019 until 2022, he presented the BBC game show The Wall. Since 2024, he has starred in the television series Mr. Bigstuff and Rivals, winning the British Academy Television Award for Best Male Comedy Performance for the former.

Early life

Danial John Dyer was born in the Custom House area of East London on 24 July 1977, to Christine (née Meakin) and Antony Dyer. He has a younger brother, Tony (born 1979), and sister, Kayleigh (born 1986). His parents split up when he was nine and he was raised by his mother in Custom House. He began acting when he was a teen, and was bullied at school so badly by his peers that he lied about taking acting classes.

In 2016, Dyer's family history was the subject of a Series 13 episode of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?, where it was revealed that his family hails from the Poplar area of London. Census records showed many of them working in the manual occupations connected to the docks on the River Thames. Further research found that Dyer is a descendant of Thomas Cromwell and of Elizabeth Seymour, the sister of Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour. Elizabeth married Cromwell's son Gregory Cromwell and, with the Seymour family's assertion to be descended from Edward III (Dyer's 22nd-generation ancestor), the line can be traced back to William the Conqueror and Charlemagne. In response, geneticist Adam Rutherford argued that an English person being descended from a Plantagenet king was "not remarkable", musing that "almost every Briton" can claim such descent.

Television

Dyer was discovered at a local school by an agent who auditioned him for the part of Martin Fletcher in the Granada Television series Prime Suspect 3 (1993), beginning his acting career at 16. He also appeared on television in episodes of Cadfael (1994), A Touch of Frost (1995), Loved Up (1995), Thief Takers (1996), Highlander and Soldier Soldier (both 1997). His many other television roles include appearances in the 2003 Channel 4 drama Second Generation, directed by John Sen; as Malcolm, main character Michelle's stepfather, in Skins; as a football player in the second series of Hotel Babylon; and as Matt Costello in what was supposed to be the pilot episode for Breathless, a BBC two-part television series in development from BBC Northern Ireland, renamed first Blood Rush and then Kiss of Death, when it premiered on BBC One as a one-part drama on 26 May 2008.

Beginning in 2007, Dyer became the presenter of The Real Football Factories and The Real Football Factories International, a TV documentary series on Bravo, for which he travels, in the former throughout the United Kingdom and in the latter throughout the world, to meet and interview football club fans and hooligans. In Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men, "a gritty and hard-hitting documentary series that sees him venturing into the dark depths of the British underworld and hunting down some of the most notorious and feared men in Britain today", began airing on Bravo in the United Kingdom on 20 October 2008.

In April 2009, he turned down a role in EastEnders, stating that although he thought the role sounded good, he did not think he could cope with the pressure of additional publicity. In his 2010 autobiography Straight Up, he said he would not join the cast until he was "fat, bald and fifty".

In February 2012, Dyer appeared as a paramedic in an episode of Casualty. In March 2013, Dyer appeared as a guest on Celebrity Juice. Dyer appeared in the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later in October 2013, as The White Man. On 1 October 2013, the BBC announced that Dyer had been cast in EastEnders from Christmas 2013, as Mick Carter, the new landlord of The Queen Victoria pub. After he began appearing as Carter, Dyer said that he had been offered and had turned down the part of Carl White, who was eventually played by Daniel Coonan. In February 2017, it was announced that Dyer would be taking a "short break" from EastEnders. In January 2022, it was announced that Dyer had quit EastEnders after over eight years in the role of Mick Carter.

In June 2018, Dyer appeared as a guest panellist on Good Evening Britain, a one-off spin-off show of Good Morning Britain, to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union. Dyer described it as a "mad riddle that no one knows what it is" and called former Prime Minister David Cameron a "twat". In August 2018, Dyer began narrating MTV reality series, True Love or True Lies. In 2019, Dyer appeared in a history documentary, titled Danny Dyer's Right Royal Family. The two-part series premiered on BBC One on 23 January 2019. Also that year, Dyer co-presented True Love or True Lies on MTV alongside daughter Dani, as well as beginning his presenting role on The Wall on BBC One. After he announced his departure from EastEnders, it was subsequently confirmed that Dyer would also be leaving The Wall.

Film

Dyer is known for his "bad boy" or "hard man" roles in film. Dyer's first film role was in Human Traffic (1999). His subsequent movie work includes Mel Smith's High Heels and Low Lifes (2001) and starring roles in Borstal Boy (2000), Mean Machine (2002) and in four films by the British film director Nick Love: Goodbye Charlie Bright (2001); The Football Factory (2004); The Business (2005); and Outlaw (2007). Among other film roles, he also appeared as the character Steve in Christopher Smith's Severance (2006); as Hayden in Adulthood (2008); and as himself in the feature documentary Tattoos: A Scarred History.

In 2008, he finished filming his roles as Pete and Tom in City Rats and 7 Lives, respectively. April 2009 saw the straight to DVD release of City Rats. Later that year, Dyer completed filming on Jack Said, a Brit noir thriller in which he played Nathan alongside Ashlie Walker, Terry Stone, David O'Hara and Simon Phillips, which was released in November 2009. This film is the prequel to Jack Says, which was released in 2008, and starred Mike Reid.

In 2009, he shot several horror films including Doghouse under the direction of Jake West, and Basement under the direction of Asham Kamboj. He played one of the lead roles in the British vampire film Dead Cert. In June 2010, he was cast for the lead role in the remake of the British horror film The Asphyx, but it failed to secure production finance and was indefinitely shelved. Dyer co-starred with Anna Walton in Deviation, a British dark thriller written and directed by J. K. Amalou.

In 2012, Dyer played the lead role in Ray Cooney's Run for Your Wife. Upon release in 2013, it was savaged by critics, who described it as one of the worst British films of all time. The film took in a mere £747 during its opening weekend.

Theatre

Dyer has performed on stage, most notably in two plays written and directed by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter: as the Waiter in the London première of Celebration (2000), at the Almeida Theatre, which transferred to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, in New York, as part of the Harold Pinter Festival held there in July and August 2001; and as Foster in the revival of No Man's Land (1975), at the Royal…