David Essex OBE, 66, has spent more than 40 years in showbusiness, starring in successful stage shows, films and scoring hit records. He talks Freetime about his new movie, his latest album Reflections and why he likes keeping it in the family

How did you get involved in New Movie Traveller?

My son, Billy Cook and I both have the same agent. He was asked to go up initially for a supporting role, and they gave him the lead. I met the director about playing the head gypsy, a character called Blackberry. I liked the script; I like the fact it was an insight into English travellers. I was a bit nervous because it’s an enormous part, but Billy was tremendous, he was a privilege to work with. We had two or three scenes together, but it was lovely to see him work.

Does Billy write and perform his own music?

No, he doesn’t. His brother does. He’s got an identical twin (Kit) who lives in New England, and he writes and sings, but Billy’s more your actor.

Working on the soundtrack must have been like old times Yeah I really enjoyed that. The last one I did was Silver Dream Racer, so I hadn’t done one for a while. Because the lead character’s father is Irish, I worked with a traditional Irish band called Brogue. I tried to use a sort of Celtic motif where I could. It seems to work. It seems to have that smell of country.

Tell us about Reflections, your first solo album in five years.

It took around two-and-a-half years to make, and I thought it would be quite nice to have a look at some big hits, and do them in a more acoustic way. I was quite careful because obviously I know the originals – they’re in peoples’ minds and that’s what they like – so the producers and I thought we could move the song somewhere else, somewhere that was hopefully equally as attractive.

We did four of the big hits, Rock On, Lamplight, If I Could, Gonna Make You a Star, and then some new stuff.

How was it playing Eddie Moon in EastEnders?

It was fast and furious, but I think if you can do something like EastEnders, you can do anything.

There have been so many stage, screen and chart successes. Is there anything that stands out for you?

I had that mad period where I was coming to the end of Godspell, which was the hottest ticket, playing Jesus. I’d finished That’ll Be The Day, and that was the film to see. Then I’d written Rock On, and that went to number one in America, and was a hit in the UK and worldwide really, so we had these three mediums converging.

Tell us about your new play, The Dishwashers, which opens in January.

It’s a very witty, very interesting play written by a Canadian (Morris Panych). It’s all about the aspirations of these three dishwashers; I play the head dishwasher. It’s quite funny, very witty, but there’s some very dark moments in it as well. It’s quite strange. I think it was done once in Canada. Birmingham Rep will be its (UK) premiere, so we’ll see how the tour goes – there’s talk of New York and the West End.

You have another new film out in 2014.

It’s called Meet the Guvnors. That’s all about gangland warfare between two generations. My character is a fella who has high principles, ex-Army, and he trains local kids to get them off the streets, but then they start to take over the estate, and they become legends for all the wrong reasons.

Then there’s the Once in a Lifetime gigs next June.

Yeah, that’s good fun. Initially I wasn’t all that thrilled about doing it; I’m not big on nostalgia, but this will be the third time I’ve done it. I’m really pleased with it because in a way it’s a celebration of a generation. How the people there – 40 to 60 years old – related to what was going on is overwhelming, so I look forward to that.

  • Traveller is released in selected cinemas and VOD (Video On Demand) on December 6