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Arinzé Kene: 'Grief can make you feel alone but talking gets you through'

Misty: Arinzé Kene's play is at the Trafalgar Studios: Bronwen Sharp
Misty: Arinzé Kene's play is at the Trafalgar Studios: Bronwen Sharp

Arinzé Kene has charisma on tap. The actor, writer and director both scripted and is starring in a typically polymathic production, Misty, at Trafalgar Studios.

Born in Nigeria and raised in Hackney, last year he won Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Pass at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. It’s show time.

Home is ...

It’s wherever my family are; first Nigeria, and now split up between there, London and Texas, where, weirdly, my auntie has moved.

A habit you learn as a Londoner?

You learn to speak everything here, and you don’t even know you’re doing it. I went to school with people from Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Nigeria. I’m blessed that I can fit in anywhere.

London oasis?

Curzon Bloomsbury cinema. I love the architecture, and the fact that it feels like a grey clay cave in the city.

Who do you call when bored?

Daniel Kaluuya and my boy, Anthony Welsh. We have similar backgrounds, we’re all young, black, working-class actors. They’re my support unit. We talk for hours. Right now we’re scoring the beef between Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly’s rap battles.

Most romantic thing someone has done for you?

I went head to head with a girl in a final audition for a part. I got it but she gave me a box of stuff I’d need while working abroad.

What’s your daily schedule?

Drinking three litres of water a day, sleeping eight hours a night, avoiding dairy, alcohol and doing two hours of vocal exercises.

Last time you cried?

I lost my sister to suicide last summer and I find myself crying all the time. Grief can make you feel alone but talking gets you through.

Advice you’d pass on?

Parents say never talk to strangers, but I think you always talk to strangers your own age.

Misty runs at the Trafalgar Studios, SW1, until October 6

Buy tickets for Misty with GO London