The real-life Bank of Dave is flying high with a second Netflix film about his life – but things weren’t always plain sailing.
Dave Fishwick, aged 53, appears alongside renowned actors in new Bank of Dave 2: The Lone Ranger. His fight against loan sharks has endeared him to the public, yet the businessman’s journey didn’t start well.
As a youngster, he endured an “excruciating” health ordeal that forced him to wear sandals to school during winter, leading to relentless bullying.
In a candid chat with the Daily Star, he shared: “I was bullied terribly because I was little. I was about four foot nothing and I’m not much bigger now.
“I had national health glasses on with a patch over my eye because I was bog eyed and had to have my lazy eye fix itself. Then one year it got really bad… I ended up with an ingrown toenail and it gets worse. My mum took me to the chiropodist.
Dave Fishwick with his wife Nicky for the Bank of Dave 2 premiere in Burnley
(Image: Getty Images)
“I went down there and they said ‘I’m ever so sorry Christine your son is going to have to have that nail off’. So they took it off, it were excruciatingly painful and they said ‘he is going to have to go to school with sandals on because he can’t put any pressure or put his shoes back on’.”
Dave shared his challenging childhood experiences, saying: “So there I was, in winter, with sandals on with national health glasses on with patch over one eye and four foot tall. Imagine what that was like. It was a tough old childhood let me tell you.”
He learned to stand up for himself at the age of 13, adding: “Even though I was being punched still, it didn’t hurt the same because I had been punched a million times and I learned to fight back against the bullies and I have never been bullied since and I think that was a really good lesson from my years in school being knocked about.”
The first film streamed number one on Netflix
(Image: Getty Images)
Dave reflected on how these experiences shaped him: “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody but for me it made me a more rounded person. I always thought the outside of the classroom window looked a lot more interesting than the inside and that’s why I have absolutely no qualifications whatsoever.”
Despite facing numerous challenges, Dave found success in various ventures, including selling minibuses and setting up his own community bank, Burnley Savings and Loans, after the 2008 financial crash. His life story caught the attention of Netflix, leading to a biopic starring Bond actor Rory Kinnear.
The sequel, out on Friday January 10, continues to follow Dave’s journey as he takes on payday loan companies. Recounting his experience working on the film, where he played an Italian-American gangster, he described it as a “pinch me moment”.