Father Brown is returning for season 12, and fans are growing curious to know more about actor Mark Williamsâ life away from the show.
Itâs almost time to sit back and relax with a new head-scratching crime in Father Brown with the first episode of series 12, The Battle of Kembleford, airing on Friday, January 10, at 2pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
So before the amateur sleuth gets back to work, hereâs all there is to know about Father Brown star Mark Williams.
Born in August 1959, Williams grew up on a council estate in Worcestershire but was able to leave his old life behind when he was accepted and graduated from Oxford University.
While the 101 DalmatianS actor had a passion for acting from a young age, it took time for him to break into the industry full-time, and so had to do other jobs.
He told MuggleNet, âI’ve worked as a painter and at a stud farm with bulls. I’ve worked in a psychogeriatric ward in a mental hospital.
âYou may do [an acting] job, but itâs only for two weeks. So, I was in my 30s before I got a regular job. For some reason, I stuck it out. It was blind faith and ignorance.â
The 65-year-old may be the star of Father Brown now, but to millions worldwide, he is better known as Arthur Weasley from the iconic Harry Potter film franchise.
He starred in all but the first movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopherâs Stone, and previously stated that he was an âhonorary liferâ despite not technically being an original character.
Nevertheless, he watched the franchiseâs leading stars, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, grow up on set, and sometimes working with the youngsters wasnât always the easiest.
Opening up to Collider, Williams laughed: âWell, they all went through adolescence, which was a bit tricky here and there.
âTheyâve been great. Weâve had great fun. When Dan [Radcliffe] and Rupert [Grint] were little after lunch was always useless.
âDo you remember being at school after lunch in the afternoonâ¦you went kind of tired, and then you went really giggly, and then it was time to go home. You remember?
âSo there used to be an hour where theyâd just be like, okay, okay, Chris Columbus would be like: âCâmon, you guys, action!â There was nothing you could do. It was great fun.â
Having played the crime-solving priest for more than a decade, Williams shared with the BBC that how he plays Father Brown was inspired by Columbo actor Peter Falk.
He commented: “I have to acknowledge the debt really to Peter Falk. I like his style of being on the back foot and slightly off the beat.
âAs an actor, you don’t necessarily think that rhythm should be important, but actually it is because if you do everything at the same beat, you will die of boredom. So it’s better to vary the rhythm.
“And Peter Falk was a very big influence for me. I actually got Colombo’s catchphrase into one show.
âI was about to leave, and I turned around and said, ‘Just one more thing’ â which I was pathetically pleased about!â
On the odd occasion, shooting Father Brown does not go according to plan, as Williams once toppled off his bike as the cameras were rolling.
The father-of-one explained: “The car chases were very good. But I get car envy because I only have a bike.
“With riding a bike, gravel is your enemy. I went to cycle in gravel, and it got deeper at one point.
“We were using this hotel as part of the scene, and I thought I would cycle out of shot.
“But, I ploughed into nine inches of gravel and just came to a stop and toppled sideways and fell over in the grass on the gravel!
“There was a young guy who was working as a kitchen porter who could just see out of his sort of prison window. He absolutely killed himself laughing at me falling over.”
Father Brown season 12 premieres on Friday, January 10, at 2pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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