I Was Sometimes Called 'coconut' When I

In What I Do For A Living, Trust And Confidence Are Key. Inevitably, You Can't Make Brave Choices And Do Your Best Work, If You Don't Have Those, Because It's Such A Subjective Art Form, And You Don't Have Eyes On Yourself.

I Know I Had My Equivalents In Adrian Lester And Lenny James When I Was At Drama School. I Remember David Harewood Doing 'othello' At The National, And Adrian Lester Having Done Cheek By Jowl's Famous 'as You Like It And Company' At The Donmar. Not Necessarily Performances I Saw, But Just The Fact They Happened Was Massively Encouraging.

One Of The Things I Have An Allergic Reaction To Playing, Especially As A Black Actor, Is The Mandatory Kind Of Best Friend/cop/detective Type. You Will Never See Me In That Movie.

We're Not Served By Only Knowing Our Finest Hours Through Film Or Media, Or In The History That We Are Taught. I Think The Only Way We Have A Chance To Not Make The Same Mistakes Again, Is To Historically Understand The Bad Behavior And Mistakes We've Made Previously.

I Like To Think Of Myself As A Physical Actor.