My Name is Ricardo P Lloyd

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My Name Is...: My Name Is Ricardo P Lloyd

My Name Is Ricardo P Lloyd

BBC Radio 4 - My Name Is..., My Name Is Ricardo P Lloyd

Ricardo P Lloyd investigates some of the obstacles facing black actors like him in Britain

Ricardo P Lloyd credits his love of acting for helping him get to university. But as he transitions from stage to film, he questions the obstacles he and other black actors face.

My name is Ricardo P Lloyd, and I’m a British actor who has worked alongside Oscar winners and top stars in many stage productions. But yet I’ve struggled to make the transition to the screen in the UK. I believe that part of the reason is because I refuse to perpetrate the negative stereotypes in so many of the roles available for black actors. In this programme I examine why I and others feel that things need to change in the industry.

When I started my acting career, this wasn’t the thing that initially held me back. If anything, the struggle then was to fund a career in an industry that’s hard for low-income families to navigate. Thankfully, I did well and started making a name for myself on the stage, working alongside Mark Rylance and being mentored by him. I’ve performed in productions produced by the Shakespeare Globe and am tipped as one to watch by newspapers like The Voice. Given how well I was doing, I hadn’t imagined how hard it would be to move to screen roles.

In this edition of My Name is.... I’ll be exploring the challenges faced by young black actors in the UK and what happens in the audition process and beyond. 

Why are so many of the roles earmarked for us so detrimental to the representation of black people and what can we do to challenge the racism that’s holding us back? 

My recordings will feature a range of different people across the industry. Including stars like Tobi Bakare, who recently decided to quit the hit BBC show Death in Paradise. And Aml Ameen, the acclaimed British actor who successfully paved a career in Hollywood and has starred in Sense8, the Maze Runner, and The Butler, just to name a few.

I’ll be investigating the compromises we’ve made and exposing those that we feel are unacceptable. 
In my early twenties, I was used to reading for small “gang roles”, but after a successful run in a special birthday celebration of Shakespeare at Westminster Abbey, I was cut short by a theatrical agent. He greeted me with the words: ”Diversity is the new thing:” an automatic red flag that immediately put me on guard. His rejection letter came with the cursory words:

“We’ve already got someone who looks like you on our books.”

I want to challenge this and help pave the way for black youngsters still in school and dreaming of following this path in life. There are already so many obstacles in their way, from fees for drama school, through to the difficulties of navigating class barriers that can hold them back. As black actors go further on in our careers, we know how much is still left to do. The industry has been shutting us out for too long and we won’t let this keep happening. 

It is time that our voices are heard and acknowledged and there are solid changes made!

Presented & written by: Ricardo P Lloyd

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