Lucky Man

He broke out in Beatles jukebox musical Yesterday and has a varied slate of juicy projects on the horizon, including a very different take on a superhero franchise. But, as the everhumble Himesh Patel tells Total Film, he puts a lot of it down to luck...

- MATT MAYTUM

It’s August 2024, and Himesh Patel is enjoying the quiet before the storm. While he’s not shooting anything at this precise moment, he’s gearing up for promo mode on a trio of new projects. ‘I have three things coming out, all being publicised in quick succession,’ he says. When Total Film quips it’s often the way that an actor’s long-gestating work ends up being released close together, he’s quick to caveat: ‘If you’re lucky. I feel very lucky to have that.’

Luck’s a subject that Patel returns to again and again, whether it’s modesty or a clear-eyed appreciation of how timing and circumstances influence anyone’s life. ‘It’s not intentional on my part in any sort of calculated way,’ he says of his sudden influx of projects. ‘As lucky as I am to be a consistently working actor, I don’t think I’m quite at the point of like, “Fifty people want to work with me. I’ll pick…”’

Despite those claims, Patel has worked consistently since breaking out in his feature film debut, Yesterday. Coming soon is The Franchise - a new large-scale TV show from Armando Iannucci, whose Avenue 5 Patel previously appeared in. It’s co-created by Jon Brown (Succession) and film and theatre legend Sam Mendes. Savagely skewering a very Marvel-esque production, the show casts Patel as Daniel, the first assistant director on what’s proving to be (to put it politely) a shitshow.

Patel leads an impressive ensemble, with Daniel’s role as first AD giving him insider insight on the whole production: wrangling actors (Billy Magnussen, Katherine Waterston, Richard E. Grant), assuaging the ego of the artistically inclined director (Daniel Brühl), and acting as a human shield when the execs visit the set. It’s a role he prepared for, unwittingly, via osmosis.