Page 540 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

into each other and trying to do the right thing in a farcical scenario,” he
says. “Touches like that are what make it feel fresh.”

Another touch Patel appreciated was Tom’s surname being changed from
something “specifically Anglo and waspy” – as it had been in the original
scripts – to Kapoor, to reflect his Indian heritage. “One of the first things

Rose wanted to talk about was, ‘We should find a name for you that fits who
you are,’” he recalls. “It felt very easy to turn the name into something that
made a virtue of the fact I was cast, rather than ignore it. In the past, I might
have tried to second guess or fit myself into another person’s idea of who this
character is.”

‘It was a massive party scene’: Starstruck’s Patel and Matafeo in Cargo, Shoreditch
(BBC/Avalon UK/Mark Johnson)

Growing up in Wembley in the Nineties, Patel hardly saw himself reflected
on screen. “It was limited,” he says. “Every British-Asian actor talks
about Goodness Gracious Me as a key touchstone, culturally. The fact is that,
while it was incredible television and it got all of us talking, there wasn’t
much else. But that’s shifting now. Riz Ahmed is nominated for an Oscar –

it’s so exciting to see that.”