Rafe Spall - My London

Rafe was named after the title character in

Home is...
London, where I was born and raised. I grew up in South East London, I've lived in London Fields, where I still own a flat, and I recently moved in with my girlfriend, the actress Elize du Toit, in her very nice house in West Kensington.

What was the last gig you saw in London?
I saw the brilliant Ed Harcourt at the Union Chapel in Islington.

What advice would you give a tourist?
Explore the East, not just Shoreditch and Hoxton but further east until there is no Tube; places like London Fields, Broadway Market and Hackney.

Which five shops do you rely on?
OnlyRoses on Old Brompton Road has the most beautiful roses from Ecuador. I have two sisters, so whenever I am buying them presents I go to a place called Caravan on Redchurch Street, E2. They do kitsch gifts such as owl moneyboxes and rabbit lamps. For clothes I go to Folk on Lamb's Conduit Street, WC1. My favourite bookshop in London is a place called Claire de Rouen on Charing Cross Road; it does beautiful photography books. The owner is a very eccentric French lady.

What's the best meal you've had in London?
St Alban on Regent Street for the service and this delicious chorizo and broad bean starter. The Vietnamese restaurant Green Papaya, on Mare Street, Hackney, does amazing crispy squid with a spicy purple basil dipping sauce.

What's your earliest London memory?
Going under Tower Bridge on a paddle steamer called the Waverley. I was about six.

What are you most afraid of?
My girlfriend's dog running off on my watch; she's a Yorkshire terrier called Lucy.

What are your guilty pleasures?
ES Magazine.

What would you do as Mayor for the day?
I would make all theatre completely affordable.

What's your life philosophy?
Live and let live.

What animal would you most like to be?
My girlfriend's dog, so I would know what she was thinking.

What was the last album you downloaded?
An album by an amazing American soul singer called Millie Jackson.

What makes you laugh?
American, low-brow, well-made romantic comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

What makes you cry?
The X Factor. I hate myself for it but I can't help but be moved by it.

What are you up to at the moment?
I finished doing a film in Glasgow last month and now I am doing a play at the Bush Theatre that will take me nearly to Christmas, then I am going to South Africa to stay with my girlfriend's family.