Page 543 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

Earlier this month, the debate about diverse casting was reignited after a
BBC diversity chief said Idris Elba’s Luther “doesn’t feel authentic” as a

Black lead because he doesn’t have Black friends or eat Caribbean food. “My
WhatsApps have been popping off since that story,” says Patel. “Largely
among my friends of colour, like, ‘Have you seen this? What do you think?’
There’s a nuanced discussion to be had about being culturally specific and
the danger of one story representing everyone. When I was training, there
were relatively few role models I was exposed to that looked like me and
there was also a real pride in colour-blind casting. I think there’s still a space

for that but now people do want to let their identity inform their work…
Ignoring ethnicity completely can lead to quite strange, unreal situations. But
at the same time, it’s not particularly interesting when a character is formed
out of a bunch of bullet points about their identity.”

Patel has become more politically engaged during lockdown. Last month, he
was so “disturbed” by the police’s heavy-handed response to the Sarah
Everard vigil that he wrote to his local MP. “Like everyone, I was shocked,”
he says. “And I talked earlier about how there are certain things that, as
actors, we internalise and accept as the status quo – I think all human beings

do that. In this case, I was wanting to be a bit more engaged, civically, and
I’m still finding my way with doing that.”

In the whirlwind of usual life, it’s all too easy to read an awful headline, sigh,

and move on without acting on it. Patel hopes that our apathy does not return
as normality resumes. “I don’t think, with something as horrific as that, that
we should sit back and go that’s just the way of things,” he says, shaking his
head. “We should look for answers.”

Starstruck will be released online via BBC Three on Sunday 25 April and
on BBC One from Monday 26 April