I love myself, I love my skin, and I love my history. I'm grateful for who I am, grateful for the people who made me, my ancestors, and I wouldn't change a thing.
When you get to a place where a person is so angry that they can do anything - it's a dark dark place.
I grew up on an estate in Manchester and people I've known from school have died in gang trouble and I always thought, if I'd been on a different estate at a different time, it could have been me.
I don't know what can be done about knife crime, gang culture and people carrying weapons because it's a world I don't know about, but I hope that people decide to disarm and walk away from conflict.
There's an African proverb that I always quote as I think it's incredible which is, 'if the children are not initiated into the village, then they'll burn it down just to feel its warmth.'
But there are times, as an actor, where you are like, 'Although I am really sad that I did not get this, I am really, really excited to watch it and just be a spectator.'
So, I was a fan of 'Luther' from the first reading of the script and watching the first series. I think the actors in it are just brilliant, and I had never seen a black lead in the U.K. for so many years. That was quite a shocking moment for me.
Me and Hermione Norris are now best friends.
The beauty with U.K. productions is that, most of the time, you get all of the scripts when you audition for them.
I've been very much the kind of person who's very quiet about my own experiences.
I'm an actor, after all, and I need to be able to pay my rent.
