My London: George MacKay

It was in Kentish Town on a great street not too far from the Pineapple Pub. I grew up in Hammersmith, but when I first moved out there was a bunch of actors living in north London who I got to know on jobs. Having grown up west, I thought I’d try north, and I have such fond memories of Kentish Town.

Acting. I was only 10 when I got my first film role, in Peter Pan. A casting lady came around to my school looking for lost boys and I guess a bunch of us looked lost. Suddenly we were embedded in an audition process and that’s how I got my first job that started me on the path. We shot in Australia, we went away for a long time on this mad adventure, eight months. When I came back, I thought, I’d like to try that again — pirate ships, bows and arrows, I’ll have a bit more of that, please.

George MacKay in Peter Pan Where would you recommend for a first date? The French House in Soho. It’s a vibey spot and you can’t use your phone in there, which I think is helpful for a first date. There’s a great energy to that pub, there’s an intimacy to it. It’s a good way to get to know someone if you can squeeze into a spot by the bar or at a table. And if it goes well, you’re surrounded by other spots to move onto.

I’m not a big shopper, to be honest. It really is just groceries with the family, various local supermarkets. That’s the honest answer.

Marc Bolan. He very sadly died not too far from where I grew up in west London. I love T-Rex, but I watched a documentary about him and was surprised when I found out he was a hippie and a mod before that. He went through all those iconic London style tribes.

Honestly, just being with my kids, they make me laugh so much. And around any table with my mates — that can be in the corner of a pub, or in someone’s kitchen, wherever.

George MacKay as Edward Ferrars in the brand new Sense & Sensibility with Daisy Edgar-Jones Focus Features LLC/Alex Bailey What’s the best thing a cabbie’s ever said to you? A guy once told me there’s only one road in the W1 postcode. Everything else is a street, a crescent, an avenue or a mews. And that one road is Tottenham Court Road. This might have to be fact-checked. Do I ever get recognised? No, not too much.

I love the National Theatre as a building. I love the Brutalist style. Same with the Barbican. I would consider those buildings as works of art.

Pure Gym. That way you can go anywhere. For actors, there’s something about staying in the middle of being in shape then you can kind of go up or down into whatever a role asks for.

Probably good pub grub, because they are expensive. A Sunday roast is not to be sniffed at.

Getty What are you up to for work? I’m in The Animals, a short film which is premiering at London Film Festival . It’s written and directed by Calvin Dunbar and it’s about a man called Miles who is in the seven-year itch stage of his relationship and feeling inadequate in comparison with his friends. What’s compounding it are these attacks — their friends’ home was invaded by attackers in animal masks, but the man in the couple was able to fight back, which sparked new life into that relationship.