HOLLYOAKS STAR REFLECTS ON PLAYING A DIFFERENT CHARACTER IN THE SOAP

Hollyoaks actor Matthew James-Bailey has been playing Ethan Williams in the soap since 2021, with the character going from trying to kill Sienna Blake to being in a relationship with her.

But Ethan isn't actually the first character he played on Hollyoaks, having actually appeared briefly a few years before that in a guest role.

Speaking to Inside Soap magazine, James-Bailey said: "I played a character called Jake, who again was a bit of a troublemaker; he came in and stole some laptops from under the McQueens' noses.

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"That was back in 2016, and clearly I made an impression as a not-very-nice guy, because they asked me back!"

Before even that, James-Bailey made his TV debut on another Channel 4 show; playing the character Tomasz in Russell T Davies' Cucumber in a storyline about making money through some questionable online content.

"The only word I can use to describe Russell is genius," the actor continued. "He's an absolute pleasure to work with, because he doesn't just write it and disappear; he'll be there on set, talking you through it and his vision for the character.

"I bumped into him the other day, actually. He gave me my TV debut, so I'll always be grateful."

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Currently, Ethan is getting used to running The Loft alongside Sienna and Grace Black, but the actor wants him to take on a very different story in the future.

Revealing his dream plotline, he said: "I like the idea of Ethan going to space! That's never been done in a soap before, has it?

"Let's push some boundaries and get him into space — I think we're onto a winner here."

Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4, with new episodes dropping each weekday morning. The show airs Mondays to Fridays at 6.30pm on Channel 4, and at 7pm on E4.

Selected omnibus episodes are available via Prime Video.

Read more Hollyoaks spoilers on our dedicated homepage

2023-06-05T07:44:58Z dg43tfdfdgfd