The son of a Pakistani father and a Kenyan mother, Adeel Akhtar initially studied law before switching to acting. His first major role was as Faisal, a Muslim extremist in Chris Morris’s film Four Lions. He has won many awards, including two Baftas (for Murdered By My Father in 2017, when he was first non-white nominee to win Best Actor, followed by a second in 2023 for Sherwood). He has worked on stage and screen, with credits including Down Cemetery Road, Utopia and Ali & Ava. He is currently in rehearsals for the world premiere of the stage version of Fran Kranz’s Mass, which runs from 18 April to 6 June at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden. Adeel lives in south London with his wife and two sons.

I like browsing through Substack and seeing what there is and getting lost in it a little. I’ve loved Hanif Kureishi for a long time, ever since My Beautiful Laundrette. He had an accident in Italy while on holiday; now he's wheelchair-bound. But he's still writing and he's getting his son to help him. These chronicles on Substack are really essays on being and on writing: there's such a vitality to them. He doesn't need to dress anything up or make it fanciful. He's speaking from a very true place. I'm hooked on them at the moment.

Arthur Miller’s Crucible is the backdrop to what the story is about. It is basically an interrogation of who we historically deem to be heroes within literature and art and how we look at that through a prism of patriarchy. It was very good. The Royal Court has always been a place at the forefront of creating a new sort of theatrical vocabulary. In the noughties, I loved Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis there – it was a time when that theatre was doing something that was new and bold and you just couldn't put your finger on it, but it was important. And it's doing it again.

I live in Camberwell – these two pubs have such a warm and hospitable environment and serve really banging food. The Kerfield Arms got a Michelin star in February, so as soon as I had a lunch free, I popped in. It has a beautiful setting where you might be eating a delicious meal but you have to put your sides on a stool because there’s not loads of space. I really love that. I had this excellent black pudding starter, which was very rich, and the bartender gave me this really lovely glass of white to go with it. It was a hit in the middle of the day.

After lunch at the Kerfield Arms I might walk to Dash the Henge, a local record shop. Recently I bought two albums: Josephine Foster & the Victor Herrero Band and Waiting for the Day (A Collection of Field Recordings) by Katy J Pearson. They have a coffee shop next door in which you can hear the music playing in the shop. Last month, Asian Dub Foundation, a band that I really loved when I was a kid, were playing live in the shop, but I couldn’t go because I was busy rehearsing.

They also do nights at St. Giles’s church in Camberwell, where they do cinema. So you might watch something like Withnail and I accompanied by a beautiful noise band. The last gig that I saw was an American folk artist called Bonnie Prince Billy. And if you know him, you know that a church setting is the perfect space. It was just gorgeous. The church was full and they served beers from Orbit, a local brewery. 

I find writers fascinating, especially poets. I love listening to Kae speaking. When I've got the brain space and bandwidth – when this play's over – I'm going to dive into Kae’s new book. I first came across his work at a festival – the Secret Garden Party. He was reading in the poetry tent. There were moments I remember in that gig where I was worried for him, given the intensity he was giving of himself. I felt every word at every moment. Whenever I read anything that he does and whenever I listen to him, I have a physiological sort of hum. Kae is a kind person. He understands if you shine, we all shine.

Interview by Jane Ferguson

Mass runs at the Donmar Warehouse, London WC2 from 18 April to 6 June.