“I had bit parts in Scum and Big Deal,” the London-born actor tells me. “But I had to work as an asphalter and a roofer to keep the wolf from the door.” Fairbrass had been pursuing his acting dream since his teens. 

He was expelled from Eaglesfield school in Woolwich for disruptive behaviour at 15, but says “my drama teachers saw something in me; one told me, ‘You only seem relaxed doing drama, it’s the only time you’re not running around causing havoc’.”

She encouraged him to try out at National Youth Theatre auditions. 

“I did, and I was the only one from a comprehensive who got through and did the play.

“I always wanted to be the centre of attention, so acting was a perfect vehicle.”

He shakes his head. “I remember one of mates saying, ‘People like me and you don’t become actors…’”

Craig, 58, has made 38 British and US films since leaving EastEnders, as well as appearing in US TV shows like Stargate SG1 – “I was the first Cockney in space,” he laughs.

“My dad was a docker, my mum was a machinist, and they were very supportive.

“To be honest it’s been a long, brutal journey, one step forward, two steps backwards but you have to keep thinking positive.”

Right now, he’s the go-to bad guy for British filmmakers. “It’s a fantastic place to be. There’s one thing worse than being typecast and that’s not being cast.”

Fairbrass is 6ft 3 and appears to have been carved out of solid oak.

With his looks and presence, he was always destined to stand out.

The green-eyed star made his feature film debut in 1989 opposite Denzel Washington in For Queen And Country and joined the cast of London Burning as Gary “Technique” Pagnell the following year.

In 1991, Craig played DI Frank Birkin opposite Helen Mirren in ITV’s Bafta and Emmy award-winning Prime Suspect.

When series one ended, he flew straight to Hollywood to sell himself to casting scouts, agents and directors. “I visualised myself on a film poster on Sunset Boulevard,” he recalls.

Sylvester Stallone made it happen, choosing Craig for his 1993 action thriller Cliffhanger.

“Granada juggled filming dates for Prime Suspect 2 so I could leave the set and head straight out to the Italian Alps and start work on Cliffhanger the following day,” he remembers.

“I had to pinch myself every morning. I spent a week on a crashed plane with Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow.”

The green-eyed star made his feature film debut in 1989 opposite Denzel Washington in For Queen And Country, and joined the cast of London Burning as Gary “Technique” Pagnell the following year.

In 1991, Craig played DI Frank Birkin opposite Helen Mirren in ITV’s Bafta and Emmy award-winning Prime Suspect.

When series one ended, he flew straight to Hollywood to sell himself to casting scouts, agents and directors. “I visualised myself on a film poster on Sunset Boulevard,” he recalls.

Sylvester Stallone made it happen, choosing Craig for his 1993 action thriller Cliffhanger.

“Granada juggled filming dates for Prime Suspect 2 so I could leave the set and head straight out to the Italian Alps and start work on Cliffhanger the following day,” he says.

“I had to pinch myself every morning. I spent a week on a crashed plane with Sylvester Stallone and John Lithgow.”

He played brutal bad-guy Delmar in the £50million film about a botched mid-air heist.

“I spent five months on that film,” Craig adds. “It was an incredible experience. Stallone was a really lovely guy. He told me, ‘Look in the mirror, see what you’ve got and go out and sell it… you’ve got a lot to sell…’. I took that on board.”

Craig’s biggest UK break was playing “Dirty” Dan Sullivan, the love rat who cheated on Carol Jackson with her noisy daughter Bianca.

“I had building workers in the street offering me their flats for our affair,” he laughs. “It’s different for soaps now. There’s so much choice, terrestrial TV is fighting for its life.”

Craig appears in several hit streaming films, including Phillip Balantini’s Villain (Number One on Netflix), and Gerard Johnson’s Muscle (AmPrime). 

“Audiences really took to Villain,” he says. “It was gripping little film with good actors and it gave me a chance to show my range.”

He brings background knowledge to underworld parts as his uncles were East End hoods the Dixon brothers.

Fairbrass was born in Mile End, grew up in Stepney and migrated south through the Blackwall Tunnel at 13. 

His father Jack ingrained him with self-respect, self-discipline and a work ethic.

“I’ve always worked; my Dad taught me to aim for the top and steer clear of ‘dead bodies’  –  people with no aspiration.”

He saw his future wife, former model Elke Kellick, in Deptford nightclub Cheeks when she was 18 and he was 19.

“My mates dared me to talk to her,” he grins. “She blanked me but I persevered. We dated and went on from there…”

They now have two grown-up sons, film producer Luke and Jack who works in the City.

Craig’s all-or-nothing attitude drives him on.

“This is the ficklest business there is, you have to keep moving.

“You get knocked back and you get up again. It’s about taking chances and having belief in yourself.

“It’s not easy, so many good actors aren’t acting anymore. I’ve had a career in films and I’m grateful, but there were dark times.

“After EastEnders, I didn’t work for eight months and then I thought ‘I’ve got to do what I did before, get on a plane and fly to LA…’.”

His California connections paid off.

Craig has appeared on US TV shows including The Unit, Soldier Of Fortune and The Sarah Connor Chronicles and recorded voice-overs for mega-selling video games, including five Call Of Duty games.

He had a motion-capture part in Battlefield V: Under No Flag, and was a voice-artist on the star-studded Star Citizen: Squadron 42 with Gary Oldman, Henry Cavill and Gillian Anderson.

Back home, director Julian Gilbey cast him to play psychopathic Essex villain Pat Tate in 2007’s Rise Of The Footsoldier, which launched a four-prequel franchise, giving him a global fanbase.

“All over the world people shout ‘One prostitute, two prostitutes’ at me,” he laughs, recalling an ad-libbed scene from Footsoldier 3 which went viral on TikTok.

He won Best Actor at the National Film Awards for the 2017 part.

Craig played ex-squaddie Deeks in the Olivier-nominated 2019 stage play Warheads, about PTSD. 

“I wanted to confront that little bit if fear as I did when I was young. Can I stand on a theatre stage with young actors and do a play? I needed to do it and I’m so glad I did.”

In Ross McCall’s A Violent Man, out now, he plays a dangerous lifer forced to deal with a young cell-mate and the daughter he’d never met.

“It’s about the physicality but also the emotional turmoil. I gravitate to characters with depth.”

His next film, heavy-duty drama The Sun Also Rises, co-starring Gina Jones, shines a powerful light on domestic violence.

Released this summer, the title refers is a metaphorical reference to Hemmingway’s Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises.

Off-duty, Craig fishes and plays golf. “You lean into the red wine and nice food,” he says.

“I value relationships built on mutual respect. I’ve always tried to treat people as they treat me.

“I try to be the best person I can possibly be.”

What next? Would he direct? “People ask me, but you need so much patience to direct and I’m very impatient. But I am working in film development. I’m working on three scripts at the moment.

“I’m just going to South Africa for a big TV job. There’s never a day when I’m not doing something involved in what I do for a living.

“I’m doing what I set out to do as a young man, but I still crave more. The hardest thing is to find a quality script.

“It’s got to be gripping. I look for scripts with more substance, some heart, and good stories.”

His career is, Craig believes, “living proof that dreams can come true. If you want something you’ve got to fight for it, the world doesn’t owe you a living. I made it happen. I was like a dog with a bone, I wouldn’t let go.”

*The Sun Also Rises is due for release this Summer.