David Harewood supports young talent in his new role as president of a prestigious drama school to help make the training of future stars more accessible whom "we will be watching on Netflix in ten to 15 years’ time."
The Homeland star stepped into his new role as president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) earlier this year, where the actor formally trained, with the drama school now taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge.
The institution, which celebrated its 120th anniversary this year, has produced some of Britain's finest talent, including Sirs Anthony Hopkins and Kenneth Branagh, Dame Imelda Staunton, Ralph Fiennes, Cynthia Erivo, Michael Sheen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and late stars Alan Rickman and Dame Glenda Jackson.
In an interview for HELLO! THE 58-year-old revealed that he nearly didn't go into acting, had it not been for one of his teachers at his Birmingham comprehensive school: "I didn’t really get academia, and I certainly had no intention of going to university. So I was very fortunate that a teacher called me out of school one day and said: 'We're talking in the staff room and we think you should be an actor.' That was the start of my journey. I honestly have no idea what would have happened otherwise."
This new role has given David the chance to help nurture young talent, and he hopes to further improve students’ chances by raising money through Big Give.
Open to all
David, who grew up in a council house after his parents moved to the UK from Barbados as part of the Windrush generation, says that far from being an elite organisation, Rada continues to help students like the young man he was. "We help more than 60% of our students with funding, because we don’t just want those who can afford to go to Rada; we want to make it accessible to people from all walks of life," he says.
"We are trying to create access for disabled actors, and 40% of our students are now people of colour," he adds. "I was one of three black actors in my year, and in the year below me were Adrian Lester, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Sophie Okonedo. We were part of that changing picture of Rada.
"Creative industries bring more than £100bn to the UK economy, and there’s an argument that they save lots of children from finding other ways to expend their energy, not always constructively. Having fallen on my face and had a difficult time – having had mental-health issues and been sectioned – I think that’s proof that yes, you can fail, have difficult times, but it’s no barrier to your journey," adds David, whose 2019 documentary My Psychosis and Me looked back on the breakdown he suffered after leaving drama school.
“Having fallen on my face and had a difficult time – having had mental-health issues and been sectioned – I think that’s proof that yes, you can fail, have difficult times, but it’s no barrier to your journey,
Head space
The actor, who has two teenage children with his wife Kirsty, now takes care to maintain his mental health. "It’s something as simple as making sure I don’t overwork myself, taking breaks, walking the dog every morning. "I talk to a therapist once a week and that’s a wonderful opportunity for me to check in and make sure I’m continuing to do the work to watch my thoughts and keep the ship on course," says the actor, who is back on screens alongside Michael Fassbender and Richard Gere in new Paramount + spy series The Agency.
"I’m a bit of a bad guy this time, which is fabulous. It’s nice to wear the bad-guy hat for a while," he says.The King, a longtime champion of the arts, became royal patron of Rada earlier this year, and David says his support is invaluable.
© Amy Sussman"It was wonderful having the King visit us a few months ago," the star says. "He stayed an hour longer than he was supposed to; I think he found the students really engaging and was fascinated by our workshops. And, in turn, the students and staff were inspired by his visit.
"These are the people – actors, directors and technicians – whom we will be watching on Netflix in ten to 15 years’ time, so we are creating the storytellers and changemakers of tomorrow.‘We are trying to maintain a legacy and build into the future to provide an academy that hopefully can last for another 120 years."
By lunchtime on Thursday, the Big Give Christmas Challenge had raised an incredible £22.3million since it launched on Tuesday. This means the campaign is well ahead of last year’s and on course to raise a record amount, rivalling Comic Relief and Children in Need in terms of scale.
The Christmas Challenge runs until 12 noon on the 10th of December 2024. To double your donation and make double the difference this Christmas, visit: donate.biggive.org/christmas-challenge-2024.
