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Men wrongly suppose they need to be ‘passive’ when sure ­circumstances truly require them to be ‘proactive’, says James Norton

James Norton has said that in the wake of the MeToo movement men wrongly think they should be ‘passive’ – when certain circumstances actually require them to be ‘proactive’.

The 39-year-old Happy Valley star said ‘modern man’ was living in a time where there was an ‘attempt to rebalance the patriarchal crimes of the past’.

He made the remarks in an interview about new ITV drama Playing Nice, about two couples whose toddlers were mistakenly switched at birth. Norton plays Pete, a likeable stay-at-home dad. 

The actor told the Radio Times: ‘What interested me was the question of what it is to be a modern man, post-Me Too, with the attempt to rebalance the patriarchal crimes of the past.

‘With a lot of men there’s a misconception that what we should be doing is making space, stepping back and almost becoming passive.’ 

The other dad in the drama is a bully and a controlling husband.

James Norton says men wrongly think they should be ¿passive¿ ¿ when certain circumstances actually require them to be ¿proactive¿

James Norton says men wrongly think they should be ‘passive’ – when certain circumstances actually require them to be ‘proactive’

The 39-year-old Happy Valley star said ¿modern man¿ was living in a time where there was an ¿attempt to rebalance the patriarchal crimes of the past¿

The 39-year-old Happy Valley star said ‘modern man’ was living in a time where there was an ‘attempt to rebalance the patriarchal crimes of the past’

The new ITV series Playing Nice. Pictured: Pete Riley (James Norton), Lucy Lambert (Jessica Brown Findlay), Maddie Riley (Niamh Algar) and Miles Lamber (James McArdle)

The new ITV series Playing Nice. Pictured: Pete Riley (James Norton), Lucy Lambert (Jessica Brown Findlay), Maddie Riley (Niamh Algar) and Miles Lamber (James McArdle)

Norton said when there were people like this in the world, men ‘can’t play nice all the time’ and sometimes needed to ‘play nasty’. 

He said of Pete: ‘He eventually realises that a man also has to step up.

‘You have to be proactive and, sometimes, confrontational.’

The drama – which begins airing on Sunday – also features Downton Abbey star Jessica Brown Findlay, James McArdle, who starred in the TV version of Sexy Beast, and Niamh Algar from Mary And George.

The show is adapted from the best-selling novel by British thriller writer JP Delaney.