Image: Ed Skrein photographed by Gavin Watson

Ed Skrein, 31, is an actor and musician best known as Daario Naharis in ‘Game of Thrones’. He grew up in North London and launched his acting career in Plan B’s 2012 film ‘Ill Manners’, which he filmed while working as a swimming teacher. He lives in East London with his partner and their three-year-old son, Marley.

What are you up to at the moment?
I’m in Paris shooting a movie called The Transporter Legacy. My son, Marley, loves Paris and all the crew here so it is lovely. Children always lighten up a film set and have a lovely way of relaxing and humanising people so it is beautiful to have him running around.

How do you balance your career with being a dad?
Every moment I’m not working I dedicate to my son and family, but being away from home is difficult sometimes. It is the only downside to the best job. I always fly my family out with me when I’m working as I know how important it is to me and my wellbeing to have them with me. They are my life-source, creatively and personally.

How has your life changed since having Marley?
I cry a lot! Seriously, when there are emotional bits in movies or even when I’m telling stories about Marley, whether they are good or bad, I’ve been known to drop a tear. But really my life makes sense now I’ve got Marley, I’ve got a purpose and a focus. A good friend of mine said to me “the aim in life is to have an extraordinary career and an ordinary life”. And that resonates at the moment. I spend my weeks pretending to do cool shit I never do in real life and spend my weekends sitting in playgrounds, watching kids DVDs, playing cars and meeting up with other mates with kids. I love it.

What are the most important life-lessons you want to hand down to your son?
I want Marley to grow up with emotional literacy and intelligence. Regardless of his job or social standing I want him to be able to deal with life’s situations with empathy, openness and love. And just like my mum and dad taught me, politeness and manners are everything in this world. If he can follow the words of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If..’ and follow the way the words are set out in the poem, I will have done my job as a father how I have intended.

What does being a dad mean to you?
It’s the reason I was put on this planet and the most important part of my life. And the funnest.

What tunes would you pass down as your Inheritance Tracks?
‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ by Gerry and the Pacemakers. I sang this song to Marley when he was only five minutes old, still covered in placenta and his newborn tar-coloured shit, and I would sing it to him every night to put him to sleep or stop crying. Now when we’re watching a Liverpool game and he hears the song he says “that’s my song from when I was a baby” and I feel like crying again haha. Even though the song has football connotations the sentiment of the lyrics resonate so strongly.

@edskrein

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