‘I should just shut up’

Lounging confidently on the sofa of a Soho hotel suite, Dominic West has been beaming at me, but now his handsome smile dissolves into a hurt look.

I have just asked him to explain why he, in common with so many actors, feels the need to voice his political views.

‘I should just pipe down and carry on acting?’ he asks, leaning forward to pour tea. I don’t like to be rude, so I raise my eyebrows and shrug as the most polite way of saying, ‘Well, it’s an idea.’

West, who is giving interviews to promote his new film Colette, has also made a campaign video calling for a second EU referendum. In it, he warns people that Britain won’t be able to make trade deals with America, Turkey or India on its own. ‘You can’t cut a deal with these strongmen and their giant economies. You do what they dictate,’ he tells the camera, pulling a haggard face, rather like in those charity appeals.