Richard Armitage’s dream of becoming an actor began in his teens, in a circus in Budapest, where he slept within sniffing distance of the elephant enclosure to earn a much-needed Equity card. Having spent his early career on stage, his big break came in the BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South in 2004. Richard went on to star in Spooks, before scoring roles in The Hobbit Trilogy and Ocean’s 8. Recently he has appeared in Netflix hits including Obsession and Fool Me Once, with Michelle Keegan.

Acting is not his only creative endeavour: Richard is also an author. His debut novel was a number 1 bestseller on Audible and his latest offering, The Cut, is out now.

Nick mixes a non-alcoholic Pentire coastal spritz for Richard while Angela prepares the best smash burger, a recipe by Martha Collison, serving it with oven chips. Nick and Angela enjoy a 0% Stella Artois with their meal, while the experts at Waitrose suggest a Rasteau Edition Limitee as the wine pairing.

Our trio discuss Richard’s army of loyal fans, what it’s like to read audiobooks for a living and how a chance meeting in a graveyard inspired his new novel.

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A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish

We can’t all have a Michelin star chef in the kitchen, but you can ask Angela for help.

Send your dilemmas to [email protected] and she’ll try to answer them in a future episode.

Dish is a S:E Creative Studio production for Waitrose