Martin Freeman had a "crush" on Paul Weller.
The ‘Ghost Stories’ actor – who has children Joe, 12, and Grace, 10, with former partner Amanda Abbington – was a big fan of the Modfather’s former band The Style Council, in particular their 1985 album ‘Our Favourite Shop’ and believes most guys have had feelings for the frontman at some point.
He said: "I was a reggae nut for a couple of years but ‘Our Favourite Shop’ really opened me up.
"From jazz and funk and soul to 60s pop – everything was on the table.
"At their best, there was no one like them. There was no pop band at the time getting in the Top 10 who were that switched on and political, who were in Smash Hits talking about bringing down the Tory government.
"I loved Mick Talbot’s sense of humour. I loved Paul Weller’s writing and I loved his hair.
"I think most of us who are my persuasion have had a crush on Paul at some point, no matter how gay or straight we are."
The 46-year-old actor fell in love with the "energy" of The Clash when he was just a child and even now he’s still a big fan of their self-titled debut album.
He told Q magazine: "It’s just the perfect punk record. The music, the lyrics, it’s a tremendous first album.
"Not that I would have understood all of those lyrics at five years old, but I was aware that it gave you a different feeling to the Bay City Rollers or The Wombles. It’s the energy of it that appeals.
"Obviously, I wasn’t a punk, I was a tiny child but I used to go into the bathroom and try to spike my hair up with water.
"I still play it a lot and it feels completely contemporary."
And when he got a little older, the music and image of The Specials became a "religion" to the ‘Sherlock’ star.
He said: "I remember seeing the Specials doing ‘Gangsters’ on ‘Top of the Pops’ and Terry Hall freaked me out, there was something menacing about him.
"But a year later, I went mad for 2 Tone. It was like a religion, my whole world was black-and-white checks for about three years.
"From the opening bars of ‘A Message To You Rudy’, I was like, ‘This is my family’.
"It influenced me musically, lyrically, sartorially – all I wanted to do was look like Jerry Dammers.
"I was a little kid who lived in Weybridge, I was hardly a Jamaican rude boy. But in my head, I was a rude boy."
Martin Freeman had Paul Weller crush
