Calls for ‘nurturing’ of Brit talent

Actor and director Noel Clarke has said that British talent needs to be nurtured better.

The Ki du lt hood star was speaking as part of a panel titled Dramatic Times on the second day of the Edinburgh Television Festival.

Clarke said: “I think there are shining lights, like you said, Small Axe (Steve Mcqueen’s anthology series) is coming. I May Destroy You is brilliant but that is Michaela (Coel), she had to become Michael a to get there. And this is the problem - Steve Mcqueen is Steve Mcqueen, he had to become Steve Mcqueen to get there...”

“What we don’t do enough in this country is nurture our talent and build them to those places. What we do is wait till they blow up somewhere else and then quickly scramble and go ‘Oh look what we’ve got, we’ve got their show’, and talk about how wonderful we are at our dinner parties with our champagne.”

Speaking alongside writer Russell T Davies, Succession writer Lucy Prebble, BBC controller of drama Piers Wenger and Channel 4 head of drama Caroline Hollick, he said British talent should not have to become more famous in America before being recognised on home soil.

“What’s not happening enough is, you know people shouldn’t have to pop

in America or have to be, slowly become successful because other people say they are good, before we in Britain embrace them and nurture them,” he said.

“If you are a black p er - son or Asian, or any other person of colour that has even less opportunity, it’s like, you are not nurtured, you’ve got that one shot, and if that one shot doesn’t work you’re kind of screwed.

“I feel like we need to look at how we nurture our talent, and build them so that we don’t end up in these situations where it has to be a Steve Mcqueen or Michaela or someone like that, but there’ s an abundance of people.”