Mark Strong: My absent father made me incredibly independent

Olivier Award-winner Mark Strong (Ian West/PA)

Mark Strong has said his father being absent when he was a boy made him an “incredibly independent” person.

The stage and screen actor, known for roles in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the Kingsman films and TV series Our Friends In The North, said a lack of “authoritarian figure” meant he had to learn important life lessons on his own.