Anthony Head, actor and animal lover
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' was life changing . . .It gave me an international face. I could walk into film production offices and I was no longer an unknown. I never thought it would be such a huge success; I still find it difficult to tell which show will work and which won't. Little Britain was also a hit but you just have to invest yourself in each project and hope it will be liked by the audience.
I'm very fortunate to be one of those faces where people aren't all over me . .. At times it was hard; like when I was doing Buffy away from home and the kids were in England. We'd try to make the most of any time together and one time we were eating in New York, people kept coming up to the table saying "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I'm doing this . . ." But you have to give them the time. I do struggle with actors who feel it's beneath them. I don't quite understand; it's part of our job.
The Gold Blend ads in the 1980s gave me huge profile. . .My partner, Sarah, said "go to America" as the ads were on there as well and she was right – it worked. Once I was there, one of the things in the back of my head was that successful shows didn't always come back to England and actors disappear, so I was desperately hoping I could come back and work at home.
Both my daughters, Emily and Daisy, are actors . . .Even at age 10 and 12 they wanted to do it professionally. We thought, let's not try and put them off it as it might create regrets. I didn't need to warn them about the business as they'd seen the game through me – unemployment, jobs and films falling through – and knew that is what it's like.
Emily is one of the regulars in the television series The Inbetweeners, and has a main part in the movie. The boys who write it asked did I fancy being in the movie as Will's dad, and I was delighted. Although the girl playing my wife was only two years older than my daughter, so I had to keep apologising to her and telling her, "Hopefully you won't have to kiss a man in his late 50s too often."
My family stay in England when I work in LA . .. Buffy was desperately hard in that way but we just had to make it work. Holidays were in LA, and the girls went to school there twice and they have friends there. If I had six days clear I'd jump on a plane and come back home.
Our animals are part of our routine . . .We have five dogs, a couple of cats, 10 horses, donkeys and about five rabbits. When I'm at home I'm often out on the farm; I muck out the donkeys and cut hay. It's very centring and you soon get rid of your la-la ways. There's no "Do you want a chair, Mr Head?"
I first became involved with the Irish Horse Welfare Trust . .. when Sarah went to Ireland to see how they were helping the community in Finglas control horse numbers and give better care to their animals. The kids there have a real passion for horses but sometimes authorities tend to write people off if they don't fit into the right boxes.
We ended up sponsoring an education programme in Finglas and went back recently to give the young people their certificates, which was fantastic.
Sarah works with rescued dogs and horses . . .with a technique called the Tellington Touch. Unfortunately with animals, man gravitates towards dominance and people gravitate towards trainers who use those techniques. But if you change that and work with an animal rather than against it, it is beauty in motion.
So much animal behaviour is about the memory of pain and fear, and her techniques address that pain and tension.
Family is part of me; it's who I am .. . Sarah has taught me about unconditional love and how animals can also bring that into your life. I can't imagine being a bachelor or not having kids. Being there for each other is what makes life whole.
In conversation with Suzanne Campbell
