In a powerful personal essay for British Vogue, Hall describes the “deeply moving” shock of recognition she felt upon reading Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel about two Black friends, one of whom chooses to pass for white.

‘I have melancholy resting face,” the actress Rebecca Hall, 34, says, apologising. It’s true that her angular face — which has been compared to a Modigliani painting — can look severe in repose