Hello, I'm Kesti Young and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive

for rights reasons we've had to shorten the music. The program was originally broadcast

in 1988 and the presenter was Sue Lawley.

My cast away this week is an actor and by his own confession a happy man. His happiness has

been achieved by a curious route after a career including stints as a steeplejack of

filing clock and a circus fire eater. He established himself as a distinguished character actor

on television in pennies from heaven and on film in the Long Good Friday and Mona Lisa.

Since then he's developed even further and he's now one of the hottest properties not only here

but in the States too. He is Bob Hoskins. To say you're a happy man Bob is a large claim. What

constitutes happiness for you? Well two things I think if you have a good job and you're happy in

your work most people are very happy to have a career or if you have like a happy marriage

like they're very happy to have a happy marriage that's this an element that makes their life

worthwhile. I've got both you know which is extraordinary. Are you surprised by your success?

It's not something that you can't live in a constant state of surprise but every now and again

you sort of think to yourself hang on hang on a minute whoa hang on there's a limousine out so I

don't know sort of uh I'm going to meet no you know what it's like appearing on this this is all

it sort of there's an island this I used to listen to this as a kid with a voy plummly and now I've

gone as posh. You don't exactly fulfill the image of a movie star I think you've I've read

you've described yourself as some five foot six and cubic and somebody else has said and I don't

think you've disputed it that you've got a face like a damaged potato. I'm not sure that's true

actually looking at you across the table today but it's the sort of thing they say it's not

kind of sexy movie star image is it? Well whether descriptions they make I'm a short fat

...