My career started off very well in classical theatre, a genre that I shouldn't perhaps have done so well in. As a result it became clear to me that I had a bit of an outlier status. I was never part of the black theatre scene, for example.
More Quotes by Paterson Joseph
We must have belief in BAME artists and have total trust in their work.
History is a Pandora's box. We've opened it now, we can't pretend stuff doesn't exist.
When I was 14 I was really taciturn - I hardly said a word - but then I auditioned for Shylock. With Shakespeare's words in my mouth I suddenly felt I had a lot to say.
There was nothing around me that would have given me heroes who happened to be Black. And I don't think anybody can understand how that feels, unless you are that person. It's very difficult to understand what it's like to be shut out of a narrative.
I couldn't be happier to have found a home at Dialogue Books for my debut novel 'The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho.'
Comedy and sci-fi are two areas where you can be larger than life, without the charge of overacting.