Greg Wise - ‘Therapy Saved My Life. And My Marriage.’

You might know Greg Wise as swoonsome Willoughby in the 1995 Sense and Sensibility TV adaptation (where he met his future wife, Dame Emma Thompson, on set); or from his roles in Cranford, The Outcast, The Crown or The Buccaneers. But Wise’s career spans far beyond the world of film and TV. A passionate advocate for talking openly about grief, particularly among men, Greg is an ambassador for Marie Curie, Carers Trust and the Good Grief Trust, and a patron of End of Life Doula UK. His new book, Grief Talking, uses his own personal stories of loss to provide the reader with an emotional and practical map to exploring the most difficult human landscapes.

In this conversation, we discuss the depths of trauma and grief, how you have to be able to take rejection as an actor, his and Emma’s experience of IVF, and the unconventional way they built their family.

IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 Introduction

03:07 Why He Wrote Grief Talking

05:05 Masculinity And Mourning

06:20 Trauma Versus Grief

08:03 End Of Life Doula Work

14:12 Rejection In Acting

24:40 IVF And Secondary Infertility

28:26 IVF Strain on Couples

29:17 Failure Language in Fertility

30:20 Dehumanising Medical Labels

32:22 IVF as Grief and Absence

33:48 Rebuilding Family and Therapy

35:11 Unexpected Family with Tindy

40:22 Gaia Acting and Resilience

41:42 Strictly, Risk and Clare Tribute

💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER:

Men and women grieve in different ways: men are thinking grievers. Women (more generally speaking) are emotional grievers.

Trauma needs to be looked at before the grief is handled.

If you can’t take rejection, you shouldn’t be an actor.

🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS:

Greg’s book, Grief Talking, is available to pre-order now and is out on 5th November: www.panmacmillan.com/authors/greg-wise/grief-talking/9781035058297

Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content

Elizabeth’s Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com

📚 WANT MORE?

Mo Gawdat (2022) - swap.fm/l/xg1simb4t2cTTqO3ZBE9

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