EastEnders star Himesh Patel acknowledges that not everyone can narrate the kind of tales to their grandkids that he can. “I can tell them I met Meryl Streep,” he laughs. Born to Indian parents, Patel features in Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up that has an all-star cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Timothee Chalamet, and Ariana Grande. Streep also features in the Netflix offering, but Patel did not have the opportunity to share screen space with her. “I worked with Leo and Jennifer. Leo is hard-working and committed. He had ideas of how we could improve the scene, and he was, of course, correct. He leads by example,” says Patel.

A still from the film