Martin Shaw: The Professionals was a monster that swallowed my career

Martin Shaw: The Professionals was a monster that swallowed my career

From bomb sites in postwar Birmingham to the centre of British stage and screen, Martin Shaw’s life has been shaped by curiosity, kindness and a refusal to play the part he was expected to play.

In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with one of Britain’s most enduring actors to trace the journey behind the performances. Shaw reflects on growing up with parents marked by war and frustration, discovering storytelling at school, and the teachers who unlocked a sense of freedom, confidence and purpose. He talks about leaving security behind for drama school, confronting imposter syndrome, and the moment he realised that great acting is not about showing off but about listening.

The conversation moves through a remarkable career. From early theatre work and transformative mentors, to working with Roman Polanski on Macbeth, sharing kitchens with Anthony Hopkins, and navigating the highs and costs of fame after The Professionals. Shaw speaks candidly about alcohol, masculinity, spiritual searching and the quiet anger that can linger beneath success. He also explains why kindness on set matters to him, how one encounter with a fan reframed his view of his own work, and why the stage has always remained his creative home.

Episoder(323)

John Simpson

John Simpson

He was nearly shot on one of his first jobs as a 25 year old, and throughout his illustrious career, John Simpson has continued to dice with death, reporting from thirty war zones and most recently du...

3 Mar 20221h 5min

Keir Starmer

Keir Starmer

The Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer has had a meteoric rise from his humble beginnings in a small Surrey town. The Starmer household was a busy three-bed occupied by his parents’ four child...

24 Feb 20221h 2min

Christiane Amanpour

Christiane Amanpour

Known across the world for fearlessly holding dictators to account, Christiane Amanpour, as a young staffer at CNN found herself kicked off the network after a disastrous first attempt at reporting. T...

17 Feb 202243min

Beverley Knight

Beverley Knight

Born to Jamaican parents, Beverley Knight grew up in a dedicated Pentecostal household where church attendance and music performance were inextricably linked and singing was an act of devotion to God....

11 Feb 20221h 3min

Adil Ray

Adil Ray

As the younger son, Adil Ray was given more freedom to pursue his creative instincts than his older, more academic sibling. Before moving into the mainstream, Adil spent his student days in an elderly...

3 Feb 20221h 2min

Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church

Charlotte Church was catapulted into the spotlight at the age of 11 after singing down the line on television show, This Morning. Within two years Church had performed at Rupert Murdoch’s wedding to W...

27 Jan 20221h 5min

Feargal Sharkey

Feargal Sharkey

When ‘Teenage Kicks’ by The Undertones was released in 1978, legendary DJ John Peel took the unprecedented step of playing it back to back on Radio 1. The lead singer was 20 year old Feargal Sharkey a...

20 Jan 20221h 2min

Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee

Despite being named by The Times as the best current English-language comedian in the world, Stewart Lee insists that nobody really knows who he is. His absence from the panel show circuit, resistance...

13 Jan 20221h

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
wolfgang-wee-uncut
grenselos
min-barneoppdragelse
alt-fortalt
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano
fladseth
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen
198-land-med-einar-trnquist