Danny Dyer says men are too frightened of being too cuddly
Danny Dyer says boys are not being brought up to be men, and he thinks men are “too frightened of being too cuddly.” The actor, who has long played hard-men roles, tied the comments to parenting and the way children now grow up around phones and screens.
Speaking to, the 48-year-old said, “We’re brought up as young boys to be boys, but not men.” He added, “I like masculinity in men and taking the p*** out of each other, but it’s also important to be able slip into that feminine side and open up about your feelings.”
Dyer on men and feelings
“In other words, many men never grow up,” he said, before adding, “You have to find out how to be a decent man.” For Dyer, the line between toughness and emotional distance is part of the problem, and he argued that some people are still scared to show their emotions.
That is where his comments move beyond the usual celebrity soundbite. Dyer is not talking about masculinity in the abstract; he is describing the social habits that shape boys before they become adults, and he is doing it from the standpoint of a father of three.
Arty and the AI world
Dyer shares Dani Dyer, 29, Sunnie, 19, and Arty, 12, with Joanne Mas. He said he worries about his youngest child growing up in an Artificial Intelligence-powered world, where children sit indoors on a beautiful day playing games and can communicate in their headphones all day.
“We’re regressing,” he said. “It just makes us f****** lazy, you know what I mean? It’s detrimental for society and for our brains.”
That gives the remarks a sharper edge than a generic parenting warning. Dyer is describing a household pressure that many parents will recognize: keeping a 12-year-old engaged offline while screens make the easiest option the default one.
Joanne Mas and the home front
Dyer said he goes out on bikes with Arty and has taught him to play chess, small routines that sit against the wider picture he outlined. The interview places those choices next to his broader complaint about modern boyhood: too little guidance on becoming a man, and too much encouragement to stay sealed off from feeling.
His position is blunt. Dyer wants boys to learn strength without emotional shutdown, and he wants parents to push back against a childhood shaped by headphones, games and constant convenience. For readers, that makes the story less about a celebrity opinion and more about a familiar question at home: what kind of habits are children actually picking up now.
