I Am The Result Of My Mother's Affair, Says Sir Lenny Henry

British actor, Sir Lenny Henry, 56, stars in new BBC drama, Danny And The Human Zoo, a "fantasy memoir" of his life as a talented teenager in 1970s Dudley. It mirrors his real life as he discovered who his biological father was. 

'I talk about my dad and my mum a lot in every interview I’ve ever done, and the person I talk about is the person who raised me. I wanted something that was truthful at the core of this and I wanted to write about the way we grew up and my family and what it was like.

I’m not alone in this. We talked about this in the rehearsal room and there were a lot of black people talking about the person who raised me and the person who was my birth father, so it wasn’t like it was a big deal or anything. I’m glad I’ve written about it – it was about time.’

Because a lot of people in my family are alive, if I'd written it exactly the way my life had been, I would have annoyed a lot of people. It's a bit like a parallel universe Lenny. My sister still won't read it because she thinks it's too rude.'

In the drama, which will be on BBC1 later this month, Danny – who is based on a young Sir Lenny – catches his mother dancing with a man called Calvin Gayle, who bears a striking resemblance to the boy. When he confronts his mother, she admits that Mr Gayle is his father and that they started an affair when she came to the UK from Jamaica before her husband. The film is written by Lenny Henry and directed by Destiny Ekaragha.