Mark Williams: ‘I browsed tractor magazines with Robbie Coltrane on the set of Harry Potter’

The star of The Fast Show and Father Brown – as well as the original Arthur Weasley – on friendly death eaters, famous Brummies and Chinese trains

What were the best and worst moments shooting the Harry Potter films? bumble1 The worst part was being away from home and the long hours. The best bit was the work and talking to the other actors. I look back with great fondness on that. I remember saying to Alan Rickman that the collective noun for actors is an anecdote.

Michael Gambon was the king of stories. He’d start a joke and you never knew where he was going. But he’d hone them; they were finely crafted – some of his best work was backstage. Richard Griffiths was also a great raconteur. His stories were brilliant, and completely unpublishable.

Maggie [Smith] liked to be Maggie. I remember at one premiere I wore this blazer a friend had made for me and could see her glinting across the room. Then she bowled over and went: “Have you just been at Henley?” She was delighted with herself for that.

With Robbie Coltrane I used to like going through Plant Trader, which was a sales magazine for big stuff: cranes, tractors, earthmoving equipment. We never purchased anything, but we came close.

Where’s the oddest place you’ve been recognised for Harry Potter? nivlek47 I’m gonna flip that question and tell you the oddest person I recognised making the films. We were shooting in the Ministry of Magic: an enormous set with a huge number of extras. This guy walked past me and I thought: that’s my accountant. When we’d stopped shooting I went over and said: “Harry? What are you doing?” He said: “Oh, it’s a group of us. We just come and do supporting artist extra work for a laugh. That guy over there is a high court judge, and he’s a contract law specialist.” I told the assistant directors: never underestimate the extras.

Do you stay in touch with any of the actors who played your children in the Harry Potter films? Are there any Weasley family reunions? avongirl We don’t really have reunions, but we are sort of in touch. I’ve worked with the twins on one of their documentaries. We went to Singapore: very nice, too. But I keep more in touch with the dark side: death eaters like Nick Moran and Jason Isaacs. Have you ever been offered an action hero role, James Bond or Superman? Would you fancy a go at one of the classics, say , Doctor Who ? teabags12 I’ve been in Doctor Who: I was Brian Williams , who’s the sort of antihero. Never been offered a superhero role, although I suppose Father Brown’s heading towards superhero status.

Who was your favourite collaboration with? Foxile47 Firstly, Hugh Laurie, in 101 Dalmatians and The Borrowers. Secondly, all costume departments. Those have been very fruitful collaborations. I remember going to meet Bunny Christie on Shakespeare in Love, and she looked me up and down like she does and went: “Hmm, a make, I think.” I felt like I’d arrived: I wasn’t getting something off-the-peg. These days, I’m getting into wearing suits. Before, it was ringfenced: if you wore a suit, you became a suit. But now it’s ironic.