Although David Always looking to the future and what he can do differently, the actor remains deeply connected to and proud of his past. The father-of-three now lives in London but returns to Liverpool as often as possible as many of his close relatives, including his two brothers and sister, still reside in Merseyside.

The Sherwood star spoke to the ECHO when she returned to her hometown last week to show her support for the Everyman Theatre’s ‘Everyone Starts Somewhere’ Campaignnorth. The fundraiser was launched to mark the 60th anniversary of the famous venue and hopes to raise £60,000 to contribute to the important role regional theaters play in making the arts accessible.

David’s first introduction to the world of acting was through Youth theater for everyone so she was more than happy to lend her voice to the campaign and host An Evening With on October 24 to raise funds to reach the goal. He said: “It’s where I started.

“I wanted to be an actor. My school didn’t do any of that, so I kept asking people I knew, ‘Where can I go to be an actor?’ and someone told me about Everyman Youth Theatre. I went there and my life changed.

“Suddenly I could feel like I was with my tribe of people. It was asking questions about your life, the life you saw around you and turning that into drama. That’s where it started for me and (when my acting career started to become ) taken seriously.”

David did not come from show business, as he grew up on a municipal farm in Knobby Ashnot far from where the legendary Ken Dodd lived. He was 14 when he mustered up the courage to break the mold and pursue his dream of acting by discovering what Everyman Youth Theater was all about.

David has vivid memories of the day he enrolled and the course of his life changed forever. However, he revealed that almost none of that happened, as he thought better of it while standing at the entrance of the youth theater when he felt a little intimidated by the strident noise inside.

He said: “It was like a playground with all the shouting. Then I knew if I walk through that door, my life is going to change. And I didn’t go in. I sat down and thought no.” I don’t know if I want my life to change. “Suddenly I started to feel panic.”

However, David soon changed his mind again in a split-second decision when his teenage self realized there were other social advantages to joining the theater group. He laughed: “This very pretty girl ran down the street and through the doors. I thought, ‘oh, I’ll try’. And that was it. I never saw her again, but once I got through the door that was it.

“It was interesting that moment when I was really blocking it, when I knew something was going to change. I was about to enter a different world with different opportunities and different people. And I was a little nervous about that.”

The rest is history, as the U-turn put David on the path to becoming one of the UK’s most respected actors. David flourished as part of Liverpool’s vibrant creative scene, where he was able to rely on the advice of actors such as Jim Broadbent, John Sessions and Tracey Ullman.

Being able to mingle so closely with successful stars gave David the belief that it was possible to make his dream come true. He said: “I would go up to them and ask ‘I want to be an actor, how do you do it?’ And none of them told me to get lost. They were all very informative and friendly and told me about the drama school, the agents, The Stage newspaper and other regional theatres.

“The inclusivity of the work was what I learned more than anything. (The Everyman Theatre) demystified the profession and showed that acting was not a rarefied place in the world. hollywoodLondon, or you had to go to Oxbridge to do it.”

David is incredibly proud of his Scouse roots and said growing up in the city made becoming an actor seem like a realistic career path. He said: “I’ve always felt very grateful to have grown up in Liverpool because they take the arts seriously and wanting to be an actor felt tangible.

“The only thing I had going for me about the Beatles was knowing that they had walked the same streets as me. I used to work at the Bistro Everyman As a barman, he served drinks to the likes of Ian McCulloch and Julian Cope and then they were on Top of the Pops the next night. “They were just talented people who worked hard and that showed me that it’s all there if you want it.”

David eventually had to move to London to attend drama school, but he credited a number of Scouse traits with ensuring he stood out among his classmates and thrived. He said: “My job is about storytelling, communication and language. I think we’ve always appreciated that. We all like a good story, we all like a good joke. We all like to chat. That sort of thing has been something that has really been very useful to me when I am away from home.

David is also instilled with the defiant Liverpool spirit, which has been vital to his longevity in a notoriously cutthroat industry. He said: “I make no apologies for what I want to do. I feel like I can do it as well as anyone else. Obviously you need talent and graft and you need to do the work.”

“But I feel like what the city gave me was this feeling of ‘it’s yours if you want it.’ Don’t let anyone discourage you, don’t let anyone tell you no. As a city, we punch above our weight. We’ve had an impact on the world in so many ways and that was something I was really able to take away.

David said he was forced to move out of the city in the 1980s to go to theater school. However, the actor is delighted with how far Liverpool has come during his career as it is now a top filming destination, with David’s success. bbc show, Sherwood, one of many programs using the backdrop of Merseyside.

He said: “I wouldn’t have left Liverpool now if I didn’t have to. I left because even if I got a job in Liverpool I would probably audition for it in London, so it made sense for me to move.

“There’s a lot of work here in the North West now, so you don’t have to move to London. Plus, with auditions you can do it on your phone. The world, in some ways, is getting smaller, but you still need to (find ways to ) get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself.

Stepping out of his comfort zone is what David does best as he continues to keep the promise he made 46 years ago when he faced his fears of walking through the doors of the Everyman Theater for the first time. He said: “I’ve had moments in my life where I think if I take this job or if I move to this city, everything is going to change. And that doesn’t scare me anymore. I used to be so scared.” of change and now I really accept it.

David is now excited to see what the next chapter of his brilliant career will bring, as the list of his current projects is a testament to his enduring versatility. The actor recently starred in his first sitcom, Daddy Issues, and is currently filming a new psychological thriller, The Woman in Cabin 10, for netflixbefore refocusing his attention on the third season of Sherwood.

It’s clear that the spark that drove him through those doors of the Everyman Youth Theater still burns brightly and the actor is determined to keep pushing the boundaries to see what he’s truly capable of. He told the ECHO there is still plenty more in the tank before he begins to reflect on what he has achieved in his remarkable career since making his on-screen acting debut in Willy Russell’s One Summer.

He said: “I feel like I’ll look back in another 25 or 30 years. Right now I’m more concerned with being present in my work and waiting for the opportunities that present themselves. But I’m grateful to be able to look.” Going back to my career so far, there are many things, in fact everything, that I would defend.”

You can find out more about Everyman’s Everyone Starts Somewhere campaign in honor of his 60th birthday here