Book Interview: actor David Harewood speaks frankly on race and mental health

The acclaimed actor David Harewood talks to Hannah Stephenson about his psychotic breakdown, racism, and why the US is a better place for a British black actor than the UK

David Harewood arriving for a concert hosted by Sentebale in Hampton Court Palace in East Molesey, to raise awareness and vital funds for the Duke of Sussex's charity, Sentebale, which helps young people in southern Africa affected by HIV.

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.