Here Comes Himesh

From EastEnders to this summer’s big Beatles blockbuster, Yesterday, meet Hollywood’s unexpected star, Himesh Patel

The first thing that Himesh Patel says is that he’s ‘itching to be back home’. It figures since he’s currently in New York on the publicity trail for new movie Yesterday, directed by Danny Boyle and written by Richard Curtis. Patel plays the lead role of singer-songwriter Jack Malik, who discovers he’s the only person on the planet to remember The Beatles. Set to be the feel-good box-office smash of the summer, it’s a far departure from Patel’s other significant role – an eight-and-a-half-year tenure as the affable Tamwar Masood in EastEnders.

Patel’s first gig post-soap was a part in Morwenna Banks and Jo Brand’s comedy Damned, playing social worker Nitin for two series (he hopes there will be a third). But this year, things have really ramped up. As well as filming adventure flick The Aeronauts alongside Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, there’s a TV adaptation of The Luminaries opposite Eva Green, and he’s just signed up for science-fiction series Avenue 5. But it’s Yesterday that’s about to put Patel, 28, firmly on the map.