Himesh Patel didn’t feel "out of place" on the set of ‘Yesterday’, despite having never starred in a movie before.
The 28-year-old actor – who is known for playing Tamwar Masood in the BBC One soap ‘EastEnders’ – makes his feature film debut in Danny Boyle’s new rom-com, written by Richard Curtis, which centres on his character Jack Malik, a struggling singer/songwriter who wakes up to discover that nobody but him knows the music of The Beatles.
Himesh insists his fellow cast members – which include Lily James, Kate McKinnon and Ed Sheeran – were "really supportive" and helped him have a "brilliant" experience on set.
When asked about his transition from TV to film by BANG Showbiz at the UK premiere of ‘Yesterday’ in London’s Leicester Square on Tuesday night (18.06.19), he said: "It was brilliant. Everyone was really supportive and I didn’t feel like I was out of place, so yeah it was great."
Himesh "learned so much" from working with ‘Trainspotting’ director Danny, 62, and ‘Love Actually’ writer Richard, 62, as the pair were "so generous and kind".
He said: "I took away friendships that will last forever and so many brilliant lessons working with amazing actors and Danny and Richard, you just learn so much. They’re brilliant, they’re so generous and kind to everyone around them and that means that everyone else can be as well because no one makes films better than those two."
Himesh was hoping to get the chance to meet either or both of the two living Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr, whilst shooting the project.
Although that didn’t happen, Himesh has been told the drummer Ringo is a big fan of the film.
He said: "No, I’ve not met either of them but we knew we had their blessing and I’ve heard that Ringo’s seen it and he likes it, which is great."
Himesh Patel didn’t feel ‘out of place’ on Yesterday set
