O-T Fagbenle

THE THEATRE AND TV ACTOR MAKES HIS BLOCKBUSTER DEBUT AS NATASHA ROMANOFF’S LOVE INTEREST IN THE FORTHCOMING BLACK WIDOW

ON ACTING AS A CHOICE OF CAREER

“I’d never thought of it in terms of vocation. I was into politics and community. My dad is a journalist who was part of the pro-democracy movement in Nigeria and my mum works in communities in developing nations, and I am still really interested in that kind of work. I always thought I’d go into something along those lines. But acting came and got me and I said, ‘Okay, I’ll go along with you, then.’”

ON KEEPING MARVEL’S SECRETS SAFE

“I see it as fun, really. I’m not keeping nuclear secrets. If they come out, the world won’t collapse! But you’re protecting fans’ enjoyment of what you’ve made, so I care about it for their sake. I’m that weirdo who literally sits with my hands over my eyes and ears for a trailer. I don’t want to know a thing!”

ON WORKING WITH SCARLETT JOHANSSON

“It’s so rare on TV and movies to have time to talk with your co-star and director and break down the role. I was surprised to find how bespoke the Marvel experience was. And Scarlett came with a seriousness — she’s playful, but there was a commitment to the work that I was delighted to see. She cared to make something with deeper meaning, not just a ‘superhero movie’.”

ON HIS TIME AS A TELEMARKETER

“It was exciting, like Glengarry Glen Ross. My boss once brought in £50 notes and started sticking them to a TV, which in the 1990s was like sticking gold bars up. ‘Whoever gets the next sale gets these!’ But I left because I realised the job wasn’t entirely moral. Lots of slightly nefarious tactics.”

ON HIS FIRST TELEVISION ACTING ROLE

“My first screen acting job was on Eastenders [back in 2002], and I had about five lines. My friends were like, ‘Don’t worry, man, one day you’ll make it.’ I didn’t say anything at the time, but I thought, ‘I have made it! I’m getting paid to be an actor! Everything else from here is cherries on top.’”

ON HOW HE’S SPENT HIS TIME DURING THE PANDEMIC

“My mum lives in Tanzania but was with us in London and she was like, ‘I am not getting locked down in London!’ She gave me that look — my mum has a look — which says, ‘You’re going to come with me, I’m not going to ask.’ We travelled together from London through Kenya to Tanzania. It was an eventful journey.” BLACK WIDOW IS IN CINEMAS FROM 28 OCTOBER