S7, Ep5: David Harewood, actor

Comfort Eating with Grace Dent

Joining Grace this week is actor and director David Harewood, who found global fame in the hit CIA-thriller Homeland 13 years ago and hasn’t stopped working since. David was born and raised in Small Heath, Birmingham, where he lived with his older siblings and Barbadian parents. He tells Grace about how his mum kept the flavours of the West Indies alive in his childhood home, while he navigated the racist world of 1970s Britain growing up as a young black boy. Sitting down over his favourite comfort food, David talks about how messing about in school led to the ‘lightbulb moment’ when he realised he wanted to be an actor; arriving in 80s London to attend Rada and discovering the excitement of ‘filthy’ Soho; and the underrated wonders of corned beef