Jimmy Akingbola has had the kind of career that only looks straight in hindsight. A role that was his until it suddenly was not. Long stretches with no work at all, arriving between the sort of stages most actors would treat as a destination. And a part in Bel-Air that connects to his own life far more directly than most viewers would guess.

In the Season One finale he talks with Jazz Lintott about all of it, including the decision to stop waiting for permission. When the audition never came, he went around it and made the introduction himself.

He is just as forthcoming about the work he does away from set. The mental health advocacy, and the mentoring charity he founded for Black actors trying to get a foothold in an industry that does not often make room twice.