Beyond Paradise Kris Marshall’s brutal axe from job as he makes sad money confession
Beyond Paradise actor Kris Marshall might be a huge household name now, but some of his early pre-fame jobs were decidedly unglamorous.
Beyond Paradise star Kris Marshall was sacked from one of his first jobs (Image: Getty)
Beyond Paradise fave Kris Marshall opened up about some of his career nightmares in a shock new interview, confessing that he was even fired from a well-known supermarket chain for a surprising reason.
Kris, whose acting credits include a 14-year on/off stint on Death in Paradise and a prior role on the 2003 blockbuster movie Love Actually once worked for Iceland – and things didn’t go according to plan. “I was once fired from [the store] for wearing blue sunglasses on the till,” he sheepishly revealed.
That was just one of numerous “crazy” jobs he’d taken on to “make ends meet” after being expelled from school during his A-Levels, as he attempted to break into the acting industry. He still has haunting memories of the shifts he took on in the laundry of an abattoir. “That one was pretty grim – the smell will never leave me!” he grimaced to the Guardian.
Other roles included working in a toothpaste factory, and knocking on the doors of TV license fee dodgers to claim the money. It was a chance encounter with a well-connected man while serving up snake bites in a bar that saw his fate change.
The man had quizzed: “You seem like a pretty stand up guy. You can’t just want to work here for the rest of your life?” When Kris responded by confiding his ambitions to become a big name actor, his new friend revealed that he worked in the industry himself and handed over a couple of crucial phone numbers.
Beyond Paradise’s Kris Marshall has had “grim” jobs (Image: Getty)
One of them was an agent based on London’s Charing Cross Road and, after taking a shine to Kris and seeing his potential, he offered him work at a travelling rep company.
Kris now recalls that the pay was poor, but it allowed him to tour the country putting on plays – and he stayed in the role for seven years.
The 51-year-old told of how his first big break, in his eyes, was a leading role in a movie which he flew over to Canada to promote at the Toronto Film Festival.
Just 18 months earlier, he’d been “hiding under my bed from the landlord because I couldn’t pay my rent”.
However, it wasn’t until 2000 when he achieved a truly major role, with him portraying misanthropic dentist Nick Harper in the sitcom My Family.
By 2008, it officially became Britain’s most watched sitcom – and Kris was “floating on air” as he experienced being recognised by fans in the street.
After his 11 year stint on the show ended, he immediately took on the role of DI Humphrey Goodman in Death in Paradise, and became one of the BBC show’s best-loved characters.
Looking back on his pre-fame years, Kris confessed: “I was tenacious in those days… I didn’t take no for an answer.”
