Himesh Patel: ‘I was still working as a paperboy when I was in EastEnders’

‘I’m no longer just being offered stereotypical South Asian roles – I’m in a much more privileged position’: Himesh Patel. Photograph: Dean Chalkley/The Observer

My earliest memory is going to India when I was three to briefly meet my grandfather, before attending his funeral. My parents made a concerted effort to speak Gujarati around the house. I went back to India when I was 16 and then 24. Men walk down the street linking their pinkies. It would be nice if you could do that with your best mate here.

I was still working as a paperboy when I was in EastEnders. My parents ran a newsagent’s in Cambridgeshire. I started delivering papers when I was 14 and would drive around and help my dad. The villagers didn’t see me as that guy off the telly – I was just the son of the people who ran the shop.