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Rafe Spall is disarmingly charming when he answers the phone.
The 37-year-old has never shied away from playing a plethora of varied and unique roles throughout his almost 20 year acting career; highlights include playing down-onhis luck loser Ian Whitehead opposite Anne Hathaway in 2011’s One Day, frontman George in the BBC’s delayed adaptation of War of the Worlds and hedge fund trader Danny Moses in finance flick The Big Short.
It was intriguing to see which part Spall would be playing for our 30 minute chat, but the man himself was so lovely and normal it was easy to forget he had rubbed shoulders with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
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“I was flicking through the channels last night, and The Big Short was on,” he laughs. “And I’m like I can’t believe I’m in this. I can’t believe that’s me!
“I got described in an article as ‘once the go-to man for feckless losers’, and that was in one film once. And not even that many people saw One Day!
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“I’m really proud of One Day, but it didn’t lead to a string of loser roles nor was it preceded by it.”
Spall adds that he “didn’t really care” whether he was described in that manner, particularly as his almost chameleon-esque approach to roles stops him from being too easily recognised.
“I’m happy to go under the radar in that sense, as I feel it stops me from getting typecast,” he explains. “There isn’t a particular sort of role I like to play. I just like a go at everything.”
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Spall’s character in Trying is far from a loser – as Spall himself lists, Jason “has a gorgeous wife, he’s got a nice flat, and he’s a teacher”, but he’s made to feel he’s not enough as he and Nikki (Esther Smith) take on the rigorous adoption process.
One of the scenes in the eight-part series shows them meeting other couples looking to adopt, and are left feeling like they don’t quite match up.
“I think that we absolutely live in a country defined by class,” Spall says. “But part of Jason and Nikki’s journey in Trying is realising what they have as opposed to what they don’t. At the end of the adoption journey, Jason says: ‘If this doesn’t work out, then you’re enough for me.
“And I think that that’s the thing that we will have to remind ourselves of, is that is what we have, and what we’re good at. Rather than what we’re not good at what we don’t have.
“We live in an age where comparison is everything. you’re constantly comparing yourself to other people on social media.
“It’s such an obvious form of insecurity to me, and it seems to be the sole purpose of anything like that is by making yourself feel good by making other people feel envious of your situation. We live in such a massive culture of that.”
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Comparing your image is something that is still prevalent in the acting industry, Spall believes. The star previously told the Evening Standard that he lost weight as a teenager after his agent said he was “too big” for a role – and sadly he feels that would still be the case nearly 15 years later.
“If you’re carrying extra weight, then then it’s quite specific the roles that you can play,” he says thoughtfully. “Now, I don’t agree with that. And I think that’s a shame.”
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“A good cultural marker is James Bond through the ages,” he says. “Daniel Craig is ripped in a way that you could only achieve if you dedicate your entire existence to living like that.
And I don’t know many people who find necessarily attractive or would want that out of their partner, and vice versa, in the waiflike expectation of actresses. I don’t know who that’s for.”
However, Spall is passionately against aligning his weight loss to the progression of his career.
“I think it’s dangerous to say, ‘I got thin and then I got successful’ because that’s dangerous, then it’s very easy to associate one’s sense of achievement and success – that is deeply problematic and sends out such a bad message,” he says.
“Losing weight isn’t the answer to anything, but it brought in the range of characters I can play – and sadly I think that’s still the case.”
And in spite of his wide variety of unique roles, it's Jason from Trying that Spall enjoyed bringing to life the most.
“I’m really not just saying that because I’m promoting it now!” he laughs. “But I love doing Trying. It’s my favourite thing I’ve ever done – and I mean that. I really believe in it and I care about it, and it plays to my strengths.
“I can play a version of myself and I really loved doing it.”
Trying is available to stream on Apple TV+