Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
TV

Don Warrington applauds the 'heroic' Windrush generation

The acclaimed actor also remembers being 'a rabbit in the headlights' at drama school in A Letter To My Younger Self

Don Warrington

British acting legend Don Warrington opened up to The Big Issue about his career, his childhood and diversity in a Letter To My Younger Self.

The 67-year-old commented on the treatment of Windrush-era immigrants, saying it “doesn’t surprise [him]”.

He explained: “People are very careless about that kind of thing. People don’t realise the history. They are not taught about the contribution these people made or the enthusiasm with which they came.”

The Rising Damp star said the Windrush generation, primarily adults who had grown up in the Caribbean and travelled to Britain between 1948 and 1971, are “heroic”. Warrington was one of them, arriving to the UK from Trinidad with his mother.

“They put up with so much but maintained an affection for this country – and to this day you can still see that in them. And you have a government that is so interested in plugging into what appears to be the popular appeal.

“The fact is that those people were never considered – they became invisible because their contribution was never acknowledged in the first place.”

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Warrington also reflected on how his younger self would feel about how his career developed.

He said: “It would blow my younger self’s mind. At that age, it was all just a vast dream. All I knew was that I needed to go to drama school and that would be my pathway. So my life is a series of shocks.

“Coming to drama school in London was another shock. There were people who had access to the theatre and they appeared to be so knowledgeable and move with such ease in that world. I was like a rabbit in the headlights.”

Death In Paradise airs on Thursdays on BBC1 and iPlayer.

Read the full article in this week's Big Issue.
Find your vendor
Don’t have nightmares
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

How many kids, Keir?

Ask the PM to tell us how many kids he'll get out of poverty
Image of two parents holding two small children, facing away from the camera

Recommended for you

View all
Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page: 'I didn't feel safe at drama school – we were told we were s**t'
Letter To My Younger Self

Gavin & Stacey star Joanna Page: 'I didn't feel safe at drama school – we were told we were s**t'

'I fully expect we'll be performing at Glastonbury': Tamsin Greig on new punk drama Riot Women
The lead cast of Riot Women - BBC drama
TV

'I fully expect we'll be performing at Glastonbury': Tamsin Greig on new punk drama Riot Women

'I hope it's a worthy successor to Happy Valley': Sally Wainwright on menopause and new show Riot Women
TV

'I hope it's a worthy successor to Happy Valley': Sally Wainwright on menopause and new show Riot Women

Why 'noodle dramas' like The Guest are just as enjoyable as 'caviar dramas' like Slow Horses
TV

Why 'noodle dramas' like The Guest are just as enjoyable as 'caviar dramas' like Slow Horses