Grandfather's War & Peace

Actor Sir Mark Rylance on his beloved ancestor’s horrific time as a Japanese POW

- Tess Lamacraft

As one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, Sir Mark Rylance has played his fair share of characters that have been caught up in the tragedy of war.

But for his maternal grandfather, Osmond Skinner, the atrocities of World War Two were a reality as he was a Japanese prisoner of war.

Sir Mark retraces Osmond’s story this week for the second episode of C4’s My Grandparents’ War, which sees four British stars explore their ancestors’ wartime experiences.

Here, peace campaigner Sir Mark, 59, whose impressive CV includes BBC2 miniseries Wolf Hall plus films Dunkirk and The BFG, tells us more about his beloved grandad…

How was Osmond involved in World War Two?