Actor Dominic West's '˜pride' in his Sheffield roots

The 46-year-old, was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in US TV series The Affair and stars in new Pixar animated film Finding Dory, grew up in Sheffield – but admits some have reservations about his South Yorkshire roots.

“I live in London so I can be with my family as much as possible, but I’m very proud of coming from Yorkshire,” West said.

“When I meet anyone from Sheffield, they look at me sceptically, as if to say, ‘You don’t come from Yorkshire’.

“But I do. It used to bug me that ‘Old Etonian’ was the constant prefix to my name, but everyone has to come out from some pigeonhole and that’s not a bad one to have to overcome.”

But West, whose father George made his fortune from making plastic vandal-resistant bus shelters, admits the experience of Eton wasn’t all plain sailing.

“I got used to the idea of leaving home very young, when I was sent away to boarding school.

“That had a major effect on me – it was the worst feeling I have ever had, very similar to the grief when my parents died. It’s the same thing really; you think you’ve lost your parents. I learned to bury the emotional effects of that and then I went to drama school and had to dig it all up again.”