Danny Boyle: Interviews

Director Danny Returns Home to a Rip-Roaring Welcome

161 Director Danny Returns Home to a Rip-Roaring Welcome Bury Times/2009 Courtesy of the Bury Times newspaper, Greater Manchester, U.K., March 5, 2009. It may have been a million miles away from the bright lights of Hollywood , but film director Danny Boyle was given a rip-roaring welcome when he returned to his home town of Radcliffe. The fifty-two-year-old, whose film Slumdog Millionaire won eight Oscars , was besieged by fans and autograph collectors on Sunday when he honored his promise to pop back down to St. Mary’s Catholic Social Club in Pine Street. The cheering fans and a large gathering of journalists came as a surprise for Danny. “This is amazing. You expect it when you’re on the red carpet and in L.A., but you don’t expect it here in Radcliffe,” he said. Among the waiting fans was seven-year-old Arwel McManamon, of Farcroft Avenue. Danny’s flying visit to Radcliffe was announced in the morning service at St. Mary and St. Philip Neri RC Church, where he was an altar boy as a child, and Arwel asked him to sign the church newsletter. His mum, Theresa, said: “We’ve just come out of church and thought it would be good to meet Danny. It’s nice that he hasn’t forgotten where he comes from. He seems very kind and will give his time to people. I am sure his family are very proud of him.” Danny, a former pupil of St. Mary’s RC Primary School, visited the club yesterday to show off his Oscar award for best director. He enjoyed a glass of lemonade with his father, Frank, sister, Maria, and other relatives and friends, and passed around his Oscar. He had carried the golden statue in a “non-descript blue bag”—in- 162 danny boyle: inter views stead of the Marks and Spencer carrier bag he had used to take his BAFTA and Golden Globe awards there two weeks earlier. But he had to warn fellow club members to be careful with the coveted award. He said: “It’s got a bit damaged now because I have been taking it everywhere and letting people hold it. It just stays on a shelf most of the time though. “I said if I won one of these I would buy everyone in the bar a drink. I said the same thing about winning a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. It’s getting very pricey now!” Danny may have come a long way since moving out of his childhood home in Holland Street, but it is clear that he has never forgotten his roots. He said: “The first thing anybody said to me here when I came here with the Golden Globe and the BAFTA was, ‘how the bloody hell did anyone like you win a BAFTA?’ That’s exactly the sort of thing you need saying.” He added: “I have always been someone who feels like they belong here, rather than in L.A. or somewhere else. I live in London because my kids are there and for work, but I get home as much as I can. I feel like I want to share this moment with everyone here.” The local boy has certainly made a name for himself after a string of hit films. But it almost didn’t happen as a young Danny dreamed of becoming either a train driver or a priest. He said: “I wanted to be a train driver, then I was going to be a priest because my mother was very religious. I was at this college in Bolton and one of the priests said he didn’t think I should do it. I am very grateful to him and always think about whether he was trying to save the priesthood or me.” After working in television and the theatre since the 1980s, Danny moved into films around fifteen years ago. “I have been very lucky. Trainspotting was an enormous success and 28 Days Later was a massive commercial success. Nothing caught fire like this though. It’s uncontrollable. It’s because of the timing—for some reason, in that moment, it’s what everyone wants to see,” he said. Danny was so delighted with Slumdog Millionaire’s success—it picked up eight Oscars in total including best picture and best director—that bury times / 2009 163 he...