Getting from the Lake District in the north of England to London in time to screentest for his breakthrough role in Unicorns was “genuinely a mission impossible” for Jason Patel.

“I definitely Tom Cruised the shit out of it,” says the star of Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd’s drama, who defied both geography and train strikes to make his 9am date with destiny. “But once I was there, I gave it everything I had, on an hour’s sleep. I treated it like I was at the Super Bowl or performing at the Grammys. And then I had to get the one train back to the Lake District and do a show at 6pm.”

Patel learned the next day that he had been cast as Unicorns’ Ashiq, a Muslim from Manchester who lives a double life in London as flamboyant drag queen Aysha.

“I treated them as very separate characters to start with, with their own personalities,” he says. “The question was how to fuse them together and make them one, because that’s ultimately the end goal in the identity journey.”

A chance encounter with mechanic Luke (Ben Hardy) leads to a cross-cultural romance in a film that made its debut at Toronto International Film Festival before going on to screen at the BFI’s London and Flare film festivals. “It was a big undertaking for us both,” says Patel of co-lead Hardy, a Star of Tomorrow in 2015. “The first thing we shot was our love scene, so we were figuring it out together.”

With Unicorns reaching UK and Irish cinemas in July through Signature Entertainment, the summer looks bright for a theatre-trained son of Stalybridge, Greater Manchester who has his own dual identity as a musician. “Why do I need to choose?” he says of an ancillary that will see him release a five-track EP titled Delicious later this year. “It means I can bring more to the table and be more of a collaborator.”

A part in the BBC’s Bradford-based crime drama Virdee is also on the way for a performer who has added running to his list of accomplishments. “I did a half-marathon in May and I’ve got the bug,” he says with a grin. “I don’t know when but there will be a time when I do a full one.”

Contact Katy Wale, Gavin Denton-Jones, Denton Brierley

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