David Harewood on growing up with racist abuse and the psychotic breakdown he suffered

Actor David Harewood (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Acclaimed actor David Harewood, star of Homeland and Supergirl, was just 23 and fresh out of Rada when he suffered a psychotic breakdown, during which he had to be physically detained by six police officers, sedated and then sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

He had spent weeks walking all over London talking to strangers and blacking out, waking up in a different part of town hours later, with no idea what had happened in between. Recreational weed smoking only exacerbated the situation.