I was a drunk & labelled ‘a problem’ in Hollywood but screen icon gave me great advice, says movie hardman Tamer Hassan

TAMER HASSAN and pal Danny Dyer were notorious in the Noughties for partying as hard as the gangsters they played.

The pair starred together in hit movies The Football Factory, The Business and Dead Man Running — and soon found they could command tens of ­thousands of pounds for personal appearances in nightclubs.

Danny, 47, later landed a steady job on EastEnders, but Tamer admits he nearly “f***ed up”; his own acting career by arriving to film sets late, “aggressive, screaming and hungover”;.

With his career now back on track thanks to hit Netflix series Snatch and a string of films out later this year, including a biopic of legendary hotelier Tony Pike from Trainspotting writer Irvine Welsh, Tamer wants to squash rumours of a rift with Danny.

He says: “Danny and I dominated the British film industry and we had a glorious 15 years together.

“I miss him. But I went to Hollywood, he landed a role in EastEnders. We went our separate ways.

“I hope we can grace the screen together again.”;

Tamer, 57, recalls how the pair were paid handsomely to attend clubs and parties during the Noughties, but that it led to his downfall.

‘Word gets round’

He says: “Danny and I were getting tens of thousands just for turning up.

“For three or four years, I was getting drunk and misbehaving.

“Then I’d turn up on set aggressive, screaming and hungover.”;

His bad behaviour started to jeopardise his career.

Tamer discovered his reputation for being a “problem”; was even discussed with the crew of spin-off series Snatch, which stars Rupert Grint and first aired on streaming service Cackle in 2017.

He says: “I’d f***ed up my career.

“I was turning up late and drunk.

“Word gets round.

“Hollywood is full of people who are difficult and don’t get the chance of a comeback.”;

Tamer’s wild ways also took a toll on his marriage to Karen, the mother of his footballer son Taser, 33, and Love Island star daughter Belle, 27.

He says: “I was irresponsible, a man-child.

“I had to grow up.”;

It is no wonder Tamer says he is “pinching”; himself today as the couple are about to celebrate their 39th anniversary and he has won a legion of new fans from Snatch, based on the 2000 film of the same name.

He says: “Karen is so good, she tolerates me and she is the mainstay of our family.”;

Tamer recalls their marriage issues happened around the same time as Covid hit.

He says: “Everything fell like a house of cards, the family fell apart.

“It was never Karen, it was me.

“I’d started being a dick, irresponsible, blaming everyone else.

“I was in a self-pity zone.”;

He had been filming Netflix fantasy-drama series, The Witcher, alongside Henry Cavill when the cast and crew had to implement Covid safety measures.

That period left him so low he thought he was done with acting.

He says: “It was horrendous, all the Covid testing, having things put up your nose every day, acting behind plastic screens and sitting alone in plastic tents unable to talk to anyone.

“I was done.”;

Acting work dried up during the pandemic so Tamer co-founded the charity, Mask Our Heroes, driving up and down Britain six days a week to deliver PPE to police stations, nursing homes, hospitals and schools.

He assumed it was the end to his extraordinary career, which had seen him star in Layer Cake with Daniel Craig and The Calcium Kid alongside Orlando Bloom.

Tamer’s first real taste of Hollywood came in 2005 when he worked with legendary actors Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman in action movie Unleashed.

Londoner Tamer, who was a decorator when he was talent spotted in a restaurant in his mid-20s, says: “I was terrified, as always.

“Bob Hoskins said, ‘Come here, boy,’ he rubbed my shoulder and said he’d look after me.

“But I was so nervous working with him that I fluffed my lines, I just couldn’t believe I was acting with him.

“He told me I was a silly sausage and gave me a hug.

“At the end of the shoot I told him I wanted to go to drama school because I was untrained.

“He said, ‘What for? It’s too late for drama school, they’ll ruin your brilliance.’

“Bob became my world, my Hollywood dad.

“He saw all my films, we were friends right up until he died.

“He gave me some great advice, saying if you have a driver on a film set don’t leave him outside the restaurant, bring him inside with you and if you see a photographer on the street, give him a picture, the guy’s got to eat too.

“In other words, be nice to people.”;

Tamer also credits Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley in Harry Potter, for teaching him a few lessons while filming Snatch.

‘I’ve been lucky’

Tamer says: “Rupert is wonderful.

“He turns up, does his work, then goes home.

“He is never late, he never argues, he delivers.

“You quickly forget he was Ron Weasley, where as I can’t look at Daniel Radcliffe in anything without thinking Harry Potter.

“Rupert is by the far the better actor.

“I was his smoking partner.

“We were filming in Manchester and people would shout at him, ‘Oi, Ginger Potter’.

“I’d get all protective and annoyed, but he would just laugh.”;

Until Snatch’s unexpected revival, Tamer was convinced he would not act again and last year appeared on Celebrity MasterChef. But then came scripts he could not resist.

Among the five films due out later this year is Rise Of The Footsolider: Ibiza, the crime-action franchise’s seventh instalment starring Craig Fairbrass as a ruthless gang leader.

Tamer says: “My first ever acting role was in EastEnders with Craig.

“I was terrified to be around the big stars but after I’d finished Craig said, ‘This man is going to nick all our work one day’.

“It’s great to be working with him again.”;

Tamer is also set to star in Mr Ibiza as hotelier Tony Pike, who once claimed to have slept with 3,000 women.

Tamer admits he had many hazy nights at the Spanish isle’s Pikes hotel, where regulars included Boy George, Kylie Minogue, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss.

He adds: “Before Tony died in 2019 he told me he’d like me to play him in the film of his life.

“When I said I didn’t think I could, he said, ‘Find your inner Pike. You can do this’.”;

Trainspotting creator Irvine Welsh originally turned down the offer to write its script until he heard Tamer was on board.

He is now putting the finishing touches to it before filming starts in Ibiza in September.

He says: “I’ve been very lucky.

“I was a decorator who ended up as a film star.

“Every day I pinch myself because I still can’t quite believe it.”;