Yesterday Movie Cast: What You Need To Know About Himesh Patel

Himesh Patel plays Jack Malik in the upcoming movie "Yesterday". His character is a frustrated singer-songwriter in an English seaside town whose dreams of becoming famous are quickly going down the drain.

After a freak bus accident, he wakes up and realizes he is the only person who knows The Beatles. Get to know the movie's leading man better with the following tidbits...

Himesh Patel played Tamwar Masood in BBC's Eastenders

If Patel seems familiar but hard to place, it must be because he played geek Tamwar Masood in the popular BBC soap Eastenders for. Not only did he play a role, but he also co-wrote an episode with co-star Charlie G. Hawkins before leaving the show in 2016.

He continue his acting career as a social worker on the tv sitcom Damned from 2016 to 2018, and is now set to star in two movies to be releasied in 2019 - "Yesterday" and "The Aeronauts".

Danny Boyle convinced Universal Pictures to cast Himesh

It took a lot of prodding to get the big bosses at Universal Pictures to sign off on Himesh Patel - especially since the only experience he had was with theater and on television.

But that was exactly what Danny Boyle was looking for, someone who was relatively unknown and who'd be propelled to a "more-popular-than-Jesus" kind of stardom.

Universal Pictures, on the other hand, was hesitant as they had to earn back all the money they spent to use Beatles songs. With the success of Mama Mia 2, they were somewhat reassured with Lily James. After a bit more prodding though, the studio finally gave in and gave the role to Himesh.

He used to deliver newspapers until he was 21 years old

Growing up in a small town in Cambridgeshire, England, Himesh was the son of postmasters who owned a newspaper shop. In order to keep him grounded, his parents had him deliver the newspapers every morning - which he did until he was 21.

Another musical superstar was supposed to play Jack's mentor

Himesh performed a monologue and Coldplay's "Never Change" for his first audition in New York - this was when he caught the attention of Danny Boyle and screenwriter, Richard Curtis. It was also revealed that Chris Martin was supposed to play his musical mentor in the movie before Ed Sheeran was finally cast.

Himesh went to the emergency room after he was told he got the role

Himesh was sick in bed when Danny Boyle called to tell him he got the role - after which he threw up a couple of times. He tried taking cold medicine, but ended up in the emergency room anyways as a result of a bad reaction to the medicine and shock from the call.