Gavin & Stacey's Dave Coaches star is related to castmate and his huge Hollywood roles
He plays one of the most popular and endearing characters in Gavin & Stacey, but there’s a lot more to Steffan Rhodri than just ‘Dave Coaches’ and taking people to the bingo on his bus. The 57-year-old Welsh actor was born in Swansea and has become something of a household name since he appeared in the very first episode of Gavin & Stacey all the way back in 2007.
Ruth Jones recently revealed that Rhodri was only meant to be appear in that first episode, but the character worked so well on screen that he was written into other episodes and eventually became and integral part of the hit sitcom. But despite being best known as the moustachioed bus driver from Barry, Rhodri has an impressive CV which includes huge Hollywood blockbusters.
His first film was back in 1997, and it’s one that is very close to the hearts of most people in Wales who were of a certain age in the 1990s - Twin Town. In case you can’t remember, Rhodri plays ‘Hunky’, one of the bouncers on the door of a Swansea nightclub who refuse the Lewis Twins entry because they’re wearing a ‘roll top’. For the latest TV & Showbiz news, sign up to our newsletter.
Rhodri also appeared in Ali G Indahouse in 2002 alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, and in The Big I Am in 2010 alongside Reservoir Dogs star Michael Madsen. His biggest movie appearance was as Reg Cattermole in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - a film that generated almost $1bn at the box office. He also appeared as Colonel Darnell in another one of the biggest movies of recent years - 2017’s Wonder Woman, which grossed $824m at the box office.
Closer to home, Rhodri has been a prolific TV actor for almost 30 years, first appearing in Pobol y Cwm in 1995 and going on to act in Doctors, Heartbeat, Father Brown, Keeping Faith, House of the Dragon, Steeltown Murders and many, many more shows. But despite his extensive work in TV and film, his role as Dave Coaches is undoubtedly his most famous one, and he revealed that it’s actually based on one of his rea-life uncles. “I didn’t actually realise this, but he genuinely is based on my Uncle John,” said Rhodri. “He drove a bus and he grew up in Cardiff, not in Swansea, and he had a moustache. And I didn’t realise when I was doing him that really I was just impersonating John. And he loves it. I’ve seen him now in funerals and things, and I’ve said this in other interviews, and he’s quite chuffed.”
Another interesting fact about Rhodri which many may be unaware of is the identity of another of his uncles - none other than actor William Thomas, who plays Bryn Cartwright in Twin Town and the vicar with a short temper in Gavin & Stacey. So Rhodri always knew he wanted to be an actor. “For quite a while I worked in theatre and education and community theatre and so on, stuff I really enjoyed doing and I had very little ambition as such, other than to be working as an actor," he said.
As for what he thinks of the role of Dave Coaches, he added: “I love it. On the whole it’s almost an entirely positive thing [fans’ reaction], the attention is great if I can move away from it, being on a train or a rugby match where people are a bit drunk can be a bit annoying but the rest of the time I love it. And it’s a great calling card, for people to know who you are because of something it’s useful. But it’s also been important to establish myself doing lots of other things as well as Dave, which was only a few weeks of my life."
Keep up to date with what's on where you live
