Dominic West on Turning 50, Nonmusical 'Les Miserables' Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close

Dominic West on Turning 50 and PBS s Les Miserables

After playing so many bad guys The Affair star relishes the heroic role of Jean Valjean

Jim Spellman/Getty Images Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Being the good guy feels good to West after playing so many villains. “It was so refreshing to play a hero, and I only want to do that from now on. Living with Jean Valjean is a wonderful experience. Living with Noah Soloway [his adulterous character on The Affair, airing its fifth and final season on Showtime in 2019] is not. I played Fred West the serial killer, Iago and some other a------s, and it was a really depressing year. And, you know, these people get to you.” Next up, he says he'll find the “time or doggedness to see through” a dozen projects he's got in his head, including the life stories of Karl Marx and British design revolutionary William Morris. “I tend to get most excited about historical figures that have extraordinary lives that we've forgotten.” Such excitement runs in the family. “My 20-year-old daughter Martha made a film called Creation, about Charles Darwin, when she was 9. She played Darwin's daughter,” explains West. “She was brilliant, but I said, ‘You're going to miss out on a lot of school.’ Now she's 20 at Oxford studying English, and she's very keen to get back into acting. I'm going all out to help her." This summer, he's gearing up for a good old all-American road trip with his wife and four children. “We're going to get an RV and hopefully go out for two months,” says West. “They want to see all the monuments and the . I want to see the Pacific Northwest. It all stemmed from a film called Captain Fantastic, with raising his kids in the wild — that sort of hugely appeals to me. Although my wife reminds me that his [character's] wife commits suicide.” One thing that may change when West hits 50: his exercise routine. “In my 40s, I got into hot yoga. That's a good one that can last me the rest of my life. But I might have to eventually give in to wearing Lycra shorts and taking up cycling, because I can't really run anymore." MORE FROM AARP AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS