Paul Opacic

Last updated

Paul Opacic
Born
Paul Opacic

1965or1966(age 57–58) [1]
OccupationActor
Years active1991–present
Notable work Emmerdale (1996–1999)
Bad Girls (2001–2002)
The Chase (2006–2007)
Hollyoaks (2010–2013, 2018)
Only Fools and Horses

Paul Opacic (born 1966) is a British actor from Halifax, England. Best known for his roles as Carl Costello in Hollyoaks , Steve Marchant in Emmerdale and Mark Waddle in Bad Girls . In 2021, he joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Stefan Brent.

Contents

Career

After appearing in several minor television credits in the early 1990s, including comedies Only Fools and Horses and Birds of a Feather , it was in 1996 that Opacic got his big break when he was cast in Emmerdale as Steve Marchant, a new love interest for Kim Tate. Opacic enjoyed several high-profile storylines in his time on the show, [2] before his character was axed by producer Kieran Roberts in 1999. [3] Opacic's stint in Emmerdale led to later appearances in Heartbeat , Doctors and Peak Practice before he joined ITV prison drama Bad Girls in 2001 at the beginning of its third series playing officer Mark Waddle. Opacic left the series the following year and last appeared at the end of the fourth series. In the ensuing years he appeared in several minor roles in programmes such as Cold Feet , The Bill and Totally Frank . In 2006, he joined the cast of the new BBC drama The Chase in a supporting role [4] and remained with the show until it was cancelled in 2007. [5] Further television credits include The Royal , Holby City and most recently Waterloo Road , in which he portrayed the neglectful father of one of the school pupils Finn Sharkey.

In early 2010, it was stated that Lucy Allan had quit the position of executive producer of Hollyoaks and that Paul Marquess had taken over the role. [6] It was soon announced that Marquess planned to give the soap a "shake up". [7] He cast Opacic in a new central family in the soap opera, stating he would play the role of Carl Costello. [8] He stayed in the soap until 2013, and made a two-episode guest stint in 2018. [9] In 2021, he was cast in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as villain Stefan Brent.

Opacic is of Croatian and English heritage. [1]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1991 Only Fools and Horses JulesSeries 7
19914 PlayBiker1 episode
1991 Birds of a Feather Hairdresser1 episode
1992 Lovejoy Andrew1 episode
1992 Screen Two Jeff1 episode
1992 Sam Saturday DC Knights4 episodes
1992 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles French Officer
1992 Screen One Policeman 1
1993 Love Hurts Musician1 episode
1993All in the GameWeeks6 episodes
1994 Men of the World Young Man from Top Clothes1 episode
1996–1999 Emmerdale Steve Marchant Series regular; 256 episodes
1996 Element of Doubt Traffic Policeman
1996A Secret SlaveKumari's Solicitor
1999Triple Exposure
2000, 2008 Doctors Rick
Simon Amley
2 episodes
2000 Heartbeat Graham Rysinski3 episodes
2001 Peak Practice Mark Kershaw3 episodes
2001–2002 Bad Girls Mark WaddleSeries regular; 19 episodes
2003, 2008 Holby City Carl Jeffries
Kevin Mathers
2 episodes
2003 Cold Feet Howard Trigg1 episode
2003 The Bill Nikitsa Severic3 episodes
2004In Denial of MurderDetective
2004 Murder in Suburbia Matt
2004A Thing Called LoveRich Allen1 episode
2005 Vincent Andrew McCormack1 episode
2005–2006 Totally Frank Thom5 episodes
2006–2007 The Chase Adrian HubySeries regular; 16 episodes
2007 The Royal Gideon Bradley1 episode
2008 Sofia's Diary Simon Taylor1 episode
2009 Salvage Corporal Simms
2010 Waterloo Road Ryan Sharkey2 episodes
2010–2013, 2018 Hollyoaks Carl Costello Series regular; 134 episodes
2010 Hollyoaks Later Carl Costello2 episodes
2017 The Moorside Detective Superintendent Paul Brennan2 episodes
2021 Coronation Street Stefan Brent 14 episodes

Related Research Articles

Paul Marquess is a television producer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His credits include Brookside, The Bill, Family Affairs, Hollyoaks, Crime Stories, Suspects and Hope Street. He also originated the idea for the series Footballers' Wives. He currently holds the post of managing director of Newman Street, a label of Fremantlemedia.

Ben Richards is a British stage and television actor and dancer. Richards studied dance from an early age and later took part in theatre. He gained supporting roles in London's West End and gradually filled the role of the lead. After small roles in two films, Richards began his television career with guest roles in various British serials. In 2004, he joined the regular cast of the ITV drama Footballers' Wives and after the series ended he resumed theatre work. Richards went on to secure roles in Holby City and The Bill. While working on the latter, Richards said that he would always pursue his career in theatre. After leaving the series he returned to theatre work. In 2015, he joined the cast of the soap opera Hollyoaks and finished filming the following year. He then returned to stage roles in the West End.

Dominic Adam Brunt is an English actor, director and producer, best known for portraying the role of Paddy Kirk in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. For his role as Paddy, Brunt has been nominated in various categories at the British Soap Awards, Inside Soap Awards and the National Television Awards. As well as acting, Brunt also produces and directs horror films alongside Joanne Mitchell; he also co-hosts an annual zombie film festival with Emmerdale co-star Mark Charnock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Hordley</span> British actor

Jeff Hordley is an English actor, best known for portraying the role of Cain Dingle in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. For his portrayal of Cain, he has been nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Actor at three ceremonies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Metcalfe</span> English actress (b. 1983)

Jennifer Joanne Metcalfe is an English actress. She is known for her role as Mercedes McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, which she has appeared in since 2006. Her portrayal of the character has led to her reprising the role in the programme's spin-off series Hollyoaks Later between 2008 and 2020. She appeared as a contestant in the sixth series of Dancing on Ice in 2011, where she finished in tenth place.

Matthew Wolfenden is an English actor best known for his role as David Metcalfe in the British soap opera Emmerdale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Sutton (actor)</span> English actor (b. 1983)

James Cook, better known as James Sutton, is an English actor. His television roles include John Paul McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks and Ryan Lamb in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale (2009–2011).

Steve November is a British television producer and executive. Originally known as Steve Frost during his early career, he became a writer for the Sky One drama Dream Team. He also took roles as an assistant director until he became a scriptwriter on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He progressed to become the series producer, a role he then took on at Coronation Street and The Royal. Within ITV he was promoted to Head of Continuing Drama, where he made decisions regarding ITV soap operas and weekly drama series. During this time he also served as the Executive producer of Emmerdale. In 2013, November took on the job of ITV's Director of Drama. In this role, November was responsible for commissioning numerous ITV dramas. In 2016, November left ITV after sixteen years. He then joined Lionsgate as their creative director in charge of UK television. He then created the production company Further South Productions.

Zoë Henry is a British actress, known for her roles in four soap operas on British television; Emmerdale, Doctors, Coronation Street, and EastEnders. She has also made appearances in various other television series including Grafters and Conviction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Power</span> English actor (b. 1973)

Dominic Power is an English actor. Power has portrayed Leon Taylor in the ITV police drama The Bill and Cameron Murray in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.

Kris Deedigan is a British actor best known for his portrayal of Des Townsend in the long-running Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jem Costello</span> UK soap opera character, created 2010

Jem Costello is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Helen Russell-Clark. She made her first on-screen appearance on 5 March 2010. It was later announced that Jem had been written out of the serial, and the character would leave in November 2010. Russell-Clark made her final appearance as Jem on 30 November 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Costello</span> UK soap opera character, debuted in 2010

Carl Costello is a fictional character from the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, played by Paul Opacic. The character was introduced by executive producer Paul Marquess and he debuted on screen during the episode broadcast on 19 July 2010. Carl arrived in the village as the new owner of The Dog in the Pond and the father of established character Jem Costello. Carl departed from Hollyoaks on 1 December 2011 with his son Jason Costello. Opacic later reprised his role and returned to Hollyoaks on 26 September 2012 and left again on the 5 October 2012. Opacic reprised his role once more in January 2013, which coincided with the exit of Mitzeee Minniver. He returned on 25 January 2013 and departed again on 15 February 2013. Opacic returned again for a guest appearance on 10 July 2018, which ended in his character being murdered by an unknown assailant on 11 July of that year. He reappeared via a flashback on 16 November 2018, which revealed Breda McQueen to be his killer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Walton</span> British actress

Melissa Wells is a British actress best known for playing Loretta Jones in Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.

Hollyoaks began airing on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom on 23 October 1995. The target audience was that of teenagers and it initially dramatised the lives of seven of that age group who lived in Hollyoaks, a fictional suburb in the city of Chester in Cheshire, England.

<i>Hollyoaks Later</i> (series 3) Season of television series

The third series of Hollyoaks Later is a British television series and late night spin-off of Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. The series ran on E4 and began on 25 October 2010.

Sol Heras is an English actor. He was the second actor to portray the character Ryan Connor in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, from 2012 until 2013. He replaced Ben Thompson, and in turn was replaced by Ryan Prescott in 2018.

Jon-Paul Alexander Bell is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various soap operas including Emmerdale, Doctors and Coronation Street. In 2022, he joined the cast of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks as Beau Ramsey.

References

  1. 1 2 Davidson, Tamara (12 April 2021). "Coronation Street producers cast ex Emmerdale actor Paul Opacic as latest villain". Daily Mirror . Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  2. "Emmerdale ratings go with a bang". BBC. 21 October 1998. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  3. Wright, Matthew (3 September 1998). "Murder on the Farm; Emmerdale trio axed". The Mirror . Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  4. "BBC Press Office – The Chase". BBC. 12 July 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  5. Dadds, Kimberley (11 July 2007). "Primetime BBC One dramas to be axed". Digital Spy . Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  6. Green, Kris (15 January 2010). "'Hollyoaks' producer Allan quits soap". Digital Spy . Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  7. Green, Kris (11 February 2010). "New 'Hollyoaks' boss shakes up production". Digital Spy . Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  8. "Hollyoaks reveals new signings". Holy Soap . Five). 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  9. McCreesh, Louise (12 April 2021). "Coronation Street casts former Emmerdale and Hollyoaks star Paul Opacic in new role". Digital Spy . Hearst Magazines UK . Retrieved 13 April 2021.