Call it the Middleton effect, but popping on a fascinator seems like an unusually good idea at the moment. Go for it at Ladies’ Day at Ascot (16 June). And I wouldn’t rule it out at Latitude Festival (14 to 17 July) either. Paloma Faith’s playing, and she’d definitely approve. I’m swapping stuffy multiplexes for cult classics, outdoor beers and

BBQs at a Nomad Pop-Up Cinema. Some Like It Hot? Here’s

hoping (whereisthenomad.com). Warming up for my summer holiday, I’m heading to Rioja Tapas Fantasticas (25 and 26 June) on London’s South Bank to fill up on gambas and queso and brushing up my snapshot skills for the Guernsey Photography Festival (1 to 30 June), where I also hope to be close to a cheeseboard. Bikini schmikini.

MArtHA’S MuSt-Dos Our girl about town’s cultural hit list

Rafe Spall talks psychopaths, losing weight and the A-list women helping to skyrocket his career

No More Mr Nice Guy…

The book-club revolutionTime to come out of the woodwork: it’s cool to be a bookworm. And it’s not just the fabulous Hay Festival putting literature back on the map, book clubs are replacing post-work cocktails. Bring your own booze (and music) to The Brick Lane Book Group at Eastside Books, London E1, every other Tuesday, or join The Hove Ladies’ Book Group for prosecco and cakes. And we love Kniterati at I Knit London for its quirky knit-friendly book nights.

W ith his auburn curls, stripy tee and cheeky grin, it’s hard to picture Rafe Spall as a psychopath. But his

chilling performance in BBC2’s conspiracy thriller The Shadow Line might change that.

‘It’s very far removed from the geezer, gangster thing,’ says Spall, who plays the nephew of a drug smuggler who is murdered. There are some pretty menacing scenes for the 28-year-old, adding another string to his ever-versatile bow. He’s been a copper (Hot Fuzz), he’s done period (Desperate Romantics), and he’s even played David Walliams’ lover (in a Frankie Howerd biopic). Does Timothy Spall’s son have something to prove?

‘I often ask myself whether I would have wanted to be an actor if I didn’t have a dad in the business,’ he admits. ‘I had a battle with it in the beginning.’

Don’t assume Spall – who lives in west London, and is expecting his first child with actress wife Elize du Toit any day now – was handed everything on a plate. As a 19-year-old starting out, he strug-gled not to be typecast because of his weight.

‘I was 18-and-a-half stone when I got sent a script where my character was described as an extremely fat man,’ he admits. ‘Losing weight was really hard. Inside I still feel like a fat bloke. The only reason peo-ple would ever find me attractive is because of the women I play opposite. They make me look good.’

As Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend in One Day (out in the autumn) and a part in Prometheus alongside Charlize Theron, could this be the key to his success?

‘There’s always gonna be room for the Brad Pitts,’ he smiles. ‘But there’s something to be said for the Everyman, you know?’