Danny Dyer praises co-star Ryan Sampson for exploring masculinity in ‘right way’

Watch: Mr Bigstuff co-stars Danny Dyer and Ryan Sampson discuss the Sky comedy

Sky's new comedy series Mr Bigstuff asks some big questions, like what it means to be a man especially if you're struggling with erectile dysfunction.

The show, which is created, written and stars Ryan Sampson, explores this notion through his character Glen, a carpet salesman who worries he's unable to satisfy his fiancee Kirsty (Harriet Webb). But it's also about so much more than that, it's about grief and reconnection when Glen's estranged brother Lee (Danny Dyer), who turns up with nothing but the clothes on his back and a tin of their father's ashes and is on the run.

Dyer tells Yahoo UK how impressed he was with the way in which Sampson approached the more serious subject in the comedy, saying: "You were sort of delving into masculinity, and the most emasculating thing is if a man can't get his winkle hard... it's almost like 'oh God, I'm not a man [because] it won't function'.

His co-star added that erectile dysfunction is a "mental thing", which Dyer concurred with by saying: "It's important because you're right actually in the grand scheme of things it's f**k all to do with being masculine, but you feel like if that's not working then what are you? What have you become? But I think we dealt with it in the right way."

Sampson was compelled to make the series for a wholly different reason than exploring masculinity, he says, it was inspired by his experience with grief.

"It's a comedy show, and I wanted it to be a funny thing, but I also wanted to write something that was about broken families because in my family we lost my mum a few years ago and it sort of spun everyone off in [different ways]," he says.

Read more: Danny Dyer ribs John Torode over 'hard peas' on This Morning

"It's an unexpected thing, you lose someone and it's the worst thing ever, but the new, unexpected thing was that was the linchpin that held you all together so you're all fractured apart. And so, I suppose, in a way I wanted to write this thing about families in a fantastical way.

"That they might come back together, these two people, who have lost their matriarch, and their dad as well."

Dyer's Lee catapults himself into Glen and Kirsty's life in surprising ways, one of which is the fact that he is intent on not buying his own clothes but dressing in Kirsty's spare clothes from her dressing gown, to her shorts, and even her sunglasses. It's another exploration of masculinity in the series, but also was inspired by some unlikely movie legends.

"Oh I loved it, I loved it," Dyer said of his outfits in the show. "The Big Lebowski springs to mind, great film, great look and also a masculine man wearing women's clothes and pulling it off. And [it's about] having the b*****ks to wear them and going 'no, actually, I own this s**t', my little silk kimono and especially the glasses."

Speaking of the sunglasses, Sampson adds: "We found these glasses that were definitely women's glasses, but when you put them on him there's just a whiff of Jack Nicholson. So it's like, 'yeah, that's the one'."

Dyer enjoyed being likened to the iconic Hollywood star, adding: "We went through a lot of glasses to find the right ones. Some I liked and Ryan weren't into them. Then I made the ultimate call on it cause I was actually [thinking] I don't know, because it could have been really camp, pink ones and it just needed to be right. And I think they were perfect, [they were] iconic."

The co-stars have an interesting rapport, constantly bouncing back and forth with one another in a way that is reminiscent of a brotherly bond like the one they share in Mr Bigstuff. Their connection first began when they worked together on the ITV sitcom Plebs, Sampson reveals.

"We met like 12, 13 years ago in Bulgaria on the set of Plebs, and so me and the Plebs guys —me, Tom Rosenthal, Joel Fry— we were intimidated to meet the man, the myth, the legend," the actor says of Dyer. "So we decided to play a game called Do You Dare Do What Danny Dyer Does Dare Do?

"He didn't know about this, this was just us, and so whatever he does we're gonna match it. We're sat outside this hotel in Bulgaria and he pulls in, fresh off this flight and I swear to God within seconds he's like, 'Limoncellos!' and the woman comes with a tray of limoncellos for everyone. We're like 'oh God, okay' and then suddenly he's got a cigar and he's eyeing me, and he smokes the whole thing in two to three lungfuls — It was terrifying.

"This is the curtailed version, but basically the end of that night it gave me a Bell's Palsy. I don't know if you know Bell's Palsy is, but it's not good, your face [is temporarily paralysed on one side]."

Dyer then joked: "The weirdest thing about this story is that I've ordered limoncello in Bulgaria because it's an Italian drink, isn't it? I think the key is it gets you off your f***ing nut, that was important and that was our way of bonding I suppose.

"I was always fascinated by the way he drunk the limoncello and you probably did have a go on a cigar because you had to Do What Danny Dyer Does. We had an early little bond up many moons ago, little did we know —well he f***ing knew— that we were gonna be brothers."

Mr Bigstuff premieres on Sky Max and streaming service NOW from 17 July.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/danny-dyer-mr-bigstuff-ryan-sampson-masculinity-073408118.html