Lenny Henry On Comedy, Dramatic Acting & Returning To Stand-Up

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Who do you support?

Lenny Henry (0:00)

West Bromwich Albion, so forgive me for everybody for really...

Lisa supports Man City, my partner Lisa, so I'm literally an adjacent Man City fan now. And I'm literally, I'm in it now. I don't support them, but I'm in it. I have to sit and watch the matches.

Romesh Ranganathan (0:14)

You want them to win the league.

Lenny Henry (0:15)

I kind of want them to win, because they'll make my life easy.

Romesh Ranganathan (0:18)

Oh, I see.

Lenny Henry (0:19)

If they win, my life is easy for us that day.

Romesh Ranganathan (0:23)

Yeah.

Lenny Henry (0:24)

There's no bad tempered people around.

Her mom is rabid. Her mom just screams at the screen.

Romesh Ranganathan (0:30)

We're rolling now. You know this, don't you?

Lenny Henry (0:32)

Oh, yeah. You can't have any of that other stuff I just said about Lisa and her mom. I love Doris. Doris, we love you.

Say, I love you, Doris, everybody.

SPEAKER_1 (0:41)

Yeah, I love you, Doris.

Lenny Henry (0:42)

We love you, Doris.

Romesh Ranganathan (0:43)

And it's good that you're passionate, Doris.

Lenny Henry (0:44)

Yeah, man. Passion is good.

SPEAKER_1 (0:46)

Yeah. Okay. I'm going to start the interview now.

Romesh Ranganathan (0:47)

Okay.

Lenny Henry (0:49)

Hi, my name is Lenny Henry. I'm going to be on The Romesh Ranganathan Show soon. Coming to a device or a computer or an iPad near you.

Shanthi (1:08)

Oh, shut up, Romesh.

Romesh Ranganathan (1:13)

This episode is brought to you by Counselling Directory. I've been very open about my mental health struggles over the years. I've tried everything from meditation to hypnotherapy. I like to keep an open mind. But something that's really helped me is therapy. I think it can be great if you struggle with anxiety, if you're going through something like a breakup or a loss.

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SPEAKER_1 (2:21)

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Romesh Ranganathan (2:52)

My guest today is an actor, comedian, writer, and knight of the realm. Over the last 50 years, his comedic brilliance has lit up kids' TV, sitcoms, and sketch shows. In 1995, he harnessed his love of making people laugh with fundraising, co-founding Comic Relief, which to date has raised over 1.6 billion pounds for charities around the world. He's also become an acclaimed dramatic actor on stage and on screen, as well as being a passionate advocate for diversity in the industry.

He's also an absolute legend. It's Lenny Henry, everybody.

Lenny Henry (3:28)

What a lovely introduction. Thank you so much. Beautifully read.

Romesh Ranganathan (3:30)

Thank you. Was there anything that you'd like to have given a bit more oomph to? Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_1 (3:37)

I don't know.

Lenny Henry (3:37)

Listen, you didn't mention Tiswas, and that's a blessing sometimes. Because everything, I go on the street in the shops, Tiswas, I get that a lot.

SPEAKER_1 (3:48)

Do you ever get Katanga, my friend?

SPEAKER_5 (3:50)

50 years ago, I get that.

Lenny Henry (3:52)

Taxis, Uber, Katanga, I still have that. Literally, the first thing I ever did. The best thing I ever did, I thought I'd go, oooookay.

Thanks.

Thank you. I love my people. I love my people who come up to me in the street. But literally, I just did, I won an award for doing Fences.