Quotes from Lenny Henry

My parents had this massive record player in the living room, a 'blue spot grand' they called it... it used up an entire rainforest to make this thing, and it had all these records in it. Some were rock, some were reggae, but a lot was blues - Ray Charles, Chuck Berry and all that stuff.

No, people don't heckle me. I think it's because there's this big, black guy on stage and it's slightly daunting.

You don't get to be a good screenwriter unless you do 20, 30 drafts: fact.

My upbringing gave me a lot of backbone and prepared me well for showbiz. It could throw anything at me and I could take it.

In 21st-century storytelling all bets are off: anybody can do anything. We're all storytellers.

My story is an immigrant story. My story is of people moving from one country thousands of miles away to another and forming new links, new family and new relationships.

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor has opened my eyes in many ways.

You walk into the Beeb and it is very, very white. That is not anybody's fault. You can be in an oppressive institution and not be an oppressor.

It's not just about showbusiness - everywhere you go people are discriminated against. And if by having an organised voice against inequality and a lack of diversity we might be able to push that down - how brilliant would it be?

I was always uncool. I was always from variety - big bow ties, flared trousers. Never cool.

Sadness has a horrible way of lingering in your subconscious.

I have a CBE - which I accepted because I knew how much my mum, who made it all possible, would have loved it.

With standup, I was thrown into the deep end at a very early age, without being able to swim. Acting was the same.

I think tax breaks for diversity is a good thing. In film now, what happens is you get huge tax breaks if you can prove via your hiring practices and via casting, that the film is British, you get a tax break. Wouldn't it be great if you got a tax break because the film was properly diverse?

My dad, Winston, didn't say much. He was a very reluctant man. He came home from working at the foundry every day and then he'd go to the bookies, watch cricket on TV or go to the pub. He was like a Victorian dad, really. He didn't have much to do with us kids.

At school I wasn't particularly engaged. I was sort of a look-out-the-window guy.

I try to make my daughter laugh often. I try to do lots of playdates and be part of her life. It's something I've learnt, because I think I saw my father laugh three times.