On Thursday morning, my phone pinged with a screenshot from a friend of a news article that genuinely made me squeal with excitement. It was about the actor, documentary-maker, campaigner, and all-round brilliant human David Harewood – who has just been announced as the new president of the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts (Rada).

Joining him as vice-president is the insanely talented British actor Cynthia Erivo. She too is a big deal. For the uninitiated, Rada is one of the top drama schools in the country (and one of the oldest) to hone your craft as an actor. If you’ve got Rada on your CV, it makes people sit up and take notice.

My excitement over David is biased, though. I’ve been lucky enough to spend time in his company on numerous occasions. Only last year, we were sitting together at a dinner, spending the evening talking about our individual industries and the changes we’ve seen over the years in terms of diversity, as well as our shared love of the best corner of the globe: south-east London.

To spend time in his company is quite something. For me, he’s a giant in the game who has an........

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