Ralf Little enjoys Death in Paradise break in St Lucia

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Speaking to Barnaby Slater on his podcast Almost Famous, Death in Paradise actor Ralf, 42, admitted he could be “narcissistic” and he used to find it hard to be friends with other actors as he would “begrudge” them on their success. He talked candidly about how he has learned to appreciate other stars’ achievements but confessed he occasionally questions why he needs to audition for roles.

Ralf found fame when he starred in BBC comedy The Royle Family, which ran from 1998 to 2000.

Special episodes of the comedy began to air from 2006 to 2012.

He joined crime drama Death in Paradise as DI Neville Parker in 2020 and continues to front the popular series.

As he admitted he felt he could be narcissistic, Barnaby replied: “But all actors have an element of narcissism, surely?”

“Yeah, I mean I don’t want to tar everyone with that brush,” Ralf remarked.

“But certainly I know that I just – it’s a really weird industry, populated by weird people, and I’m one of them.

“The reason is, it is an industry which people go into, often seeking happiness through validation, which is a bit of a dangerous pattern anyway.

“I’m not necessarily saying that’s a crazy thing to do, but you gain more from validation, you gain self-worth from validation, possibly in a heightened way.

“And simultaneously it’s the industry in which your self-worth takes a battering more than any other I could possibly imagine, apart from maybe being a footballer, but at least you get the chance to prove people wrong next week, right?

“You know, every audition, everything that goes on TV, every audition you didn’t get, every audition you didn’t even get a call for,

every one of your friends who’s got an audition, every one of your friends who suddenly gets a big part.

“It’s like… it’s really hard, none of my friends used to be actors, I couldn’t hang out with actors.”

Expanding on this, he admitted: “Because they’re contemporaries of yours and they’re great enough that you end up playing football with them.

“And they’re great and they’re lovely lads, and then you get a bit older and you go, ‘Actually, I can’t begrudge anything because they’re brilliant.’

“In 2001, 2002, James McAvoy was a peer of mine – a contemporary of mine, he and I would always have auditions.”

The actor joked: “And I think he’s now retired because I don’t see him in auditions now.

“But you know, how can you begrudge a second of his success?

“He’s an amazing actor. Lovely guy, a nifty footballer. I can’t argue with any of that. But do you think I was saying that s*** in 2002?!

“No, I was lying to myself going, ‘Why is he working? I can do what he does.’ Can I? I don’t know.” 

Barnaby probed: “Do you still have to audition?”

“It depends what it is, but yeah,” Ralf replied before confessing it’s something he often does.

“I mean, hundreds of times!” he laughed. “It’s a conversation I have with them more than anything, ‘Why have I got to audition for this?’

“And they’re like, ‘Everybody’s auditioning for it, get over yourself.'”

Death in Paradise is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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