A Southampton man who gave up a consultancy job to pursue a career in acting is about to appear in hit BBC television series, Call the Midwife.

Romo Sikdar, 34, gave up his day job in London after climbing up the corporate ladder at consultancy firm Extension.

Whether it was a coincidence or divine intervention, five years ago Romo was due to fly out to Goa, India for a friend’s wedding – but missed his flight after misreading his boarding time.

With two weeks off work and nothing to do, the 34-year-old booked himself a fortnight’s worth of acting classes, eventually enrolling in the renowned Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

He told the Echo: “It’s like I’d finally found what I’d wanted to do.

“I’d been interested in acting since I was a child, and it was always special to be allowed to stay up a little longer on a Saturday night and watch films with my parents.

“Not only that but my aunt was a librarian and would encourage me to perform but it’s not something I took seriously until later on in life.”

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Daily Echo:

Upon leaving his consultancy job, Romo moved from East London to Southampton, where he moved in with his fiancé, who’s a nurse at Southampton General Hospital.

Though Romo doesn’t act full-time – maintaining a primary job as a risk investigator – his early acting career has already seen him appear in EastEnders, as well as Marvel blockbuster, Spider-Man: Far From Home, where he featured in a scene alongside Academy Award nominated actor, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Though Romo’s lines in the movie were eventually cut from the film’s release, he’s been seen by millions of cinema-goers across the globe, which he described as an ‘amazing experience’.

“It’s experiences like that, that make you want to do it full-time, I think that’s every actor’s dream,” he added.

As Romo steadily builds his acting portfolio, this weekend will see him appear in the latest episode of BBC television series, Call the Midwife, focussing on parenthood and grief in the South Asian community.

He said: “The episode centres on a South Asian woman who’s recently moved to the UK and has pregnancy and marriage issues, but her move to the UK echoed my own family’s experience.

“My grandparents came to the UK from Bangladesh, so to be set in a period setting around the time they would have emigrated to the UK, was quite a big deal for me and something I was proud to be a part of.

“I think the subject of grief is often pushed to the side in South Asian culture, so to be able to highlight that and discuss it is really important.”