I wouldn’t take back the drugs, but there are a few boyfriends that I’d edit out of my life.

Some of the neuroses of my 20s. I knew I had a great talent, but I thought it was unmarketable because I felt ugly.

I'd have a good, encouraging start in school – I think I'd be a different person, with fewer anxiety attacks.

I should have known that I might not like what my brain scan showed, just as I should have known that the symptoms of prostatism that were increasingly bothering me were just as likely to be caused by cancer as by the benign prostatic enlargement that happens in most men as they age. But I continued to think that illness happened to patients and not to doctors, even though I was now retired. Twenty months after I had my brain scanned, I was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. I had had typical symptoms for years, steadily getting worse, but it took me a long time before I could bring myself to ask for help. I thought I was being stoical when in reality I was being a coward. I simply couldn’t believe the diagnosis at first, so deeply ingrained was my denial.

I had no idea. When I was a week away from leaving school, a teacher said, “We’ve been talking in the staffroom and we all think you should be an actor.” I thought, “That’s exactly what I want.” The rest is history.

I’ve helped create a path for young black actors. When I go to swanky Hollywood dos, it’s great to see more and more young black British faces. I can remember a time when I was the only one there.

In New York, I once went shopping and spent something like $7,000 on a couple of shirts, trousers and a jacket. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was ridiculous.

After my documentary aired. I suddenly had a bit of panic, because it’s very personal. I couldn’t watch it on the night, I was so scared. The next day people were walking up to me on the street and telling me their life story. It was extraordinary.

Having my family closer.

I was a bailiff for half a morning. I couldn’t stand it.