David Harewood says black British actors move to US because UK TV industry doesn’t ‘support’ them

‘That’s why the major black actors in the UK leave’

Actor David Harewood has revealed that he moved to the US because “there just isn’t the industry to support” black actors in the UK.

The British actor, who is best known for roles in Homeland and Supergirl, appeared on The Joe Wicks Podcast where he explained that he had been struggling financially before moving to the US for work.

“It’s been really tough here [in the UK] for me,” Harewood, 54, said. “I know people consider me a success but I hadn’t actually worked in England on any TV for about nine months when I got Homeland ... My agent was always saying, ‘You need to get to America.’”

Explaining that he hasn’t stopped working since making the move across the pond, the actor continued: “I turn my TV on in America and there’s a range of shows with black leading actors and actresses, Netflix has got lots of shows with leading black casts …That’s why the major black actors in the UK leave, there just isn’t the industry to support us.”

Speaking about his experiences of racism in the UK TV industry, Harewood continued: “Racism and its effects still isn’t really understood here, and because our system is essentially a class-based system it gets swallowed up in that paradigm, as the working class will say, ‘Well, join the queue.’

“It is a particularly different struggle, so it is very difficult to get people to acknowledge that there is a specificity to racism and how it affects people of colour in this country … I feel like that window is already closing.”

Earlier this year, Harewood criticised Laurence Fox over comments he made about successful black actors complaining about racism.

“I’ve been speaking up on the lack of work for black actors in the UK for about 20 years,” Harewood tweeted. “I’m now acting in and directing American television... and I still don’t have 5 million quid.”