Top 10 British Soap Stars on Film
22nd October 2014
Share This Article:
Crime thriller The Smoke stars Matt Di Angelo and Anna Passey, who are famous for their roles in classic British Soap Operas Eastenders and Hollyoaks. Here we look back at other soap-stars who have attempted to make the big leap to the big screen - some successfully, others not so...
Matt Di Angelo and Anna Passey – from EastEnders and Hollyoaks to The Smoke
After entering their careers as soap stars on EastEnders and Hollyoaks, Matt Di Angelo and Anna Passey make their film debuts in the new gangster crime thriller, The Smoke.
In Hollyoaks Passey played Sienna Blake, a beautiful, clever and calculating character who entered the village with her controlling father, Patrick, but stays with her estranged twin brother, Dodger. Di Angelo began on EastEnders as Dean Wicks in 2006, a dark, brooding man with a chip on his shoulder, leaving in a whirlwind of violence and drama in 2008, but returning to Walford this year.
After his further successes on TV in Hustle and Borgia, Di Angelo has landed the starring role in The Smoke as city lawyer Brad Walker. In the worst day of his life, Brad’s high-maintenance girlfriend Sasha (Passey) has unceremoniously ditched him for his so-called friend Tom (Christian Brassington) and to add insult to injury he's just been fired. On a night out drowning his sorrows with old friend Dean (Jeff Leach), he happens to overhear a conversation between Phil (Darren Ripley) and Ben (Stephen Marcus) - two drug dealers working for small-time gangster Jack (Alan Ford). In no time at all, Brad manages to make off with a sports car, a call girl and £400,000 in cash... But that’s just the start.
Martine McCutcheon - from EastEnders to Love, Actually
Martine McCutcheon first starred in the role of Tiffany Raymond, the abandoned child of Louise, on the popular BBC Soap Opera EastEnders. As the role of Tiffany grew, so did McCutcheon's popularity, and 22 million viewers tuned in to see her final scenes in Albert Square on New Year’s Eve in 1998. In this episode McCutcheon’s character was run over by one of Frank Butcher's dodgy used cars, thereby killing her EastEnders career.
In 2003, after a brief and failed attempt at a pop music career, McCutcheon featured in her first major film role. She appeared as tea-lady Natalie in the Richard Curtis romantic comedy Love Actually, now a Christmas classic, where the British Prime Minister (played by Hugh Grant) falls in love with McCutcheon's character. McCutcheon and Grant’s budding relationship is exposed when a curtain is raised on them kissing at big finale of a school play.
Jude Law - from Families to The Talented Mr. Ripley
Arguably Britain's biggest soap-star-to-movie-star success is Jude Law, now one of Hollywood's finest actors. Unbeknownst to most, Law began his acting career rather unglamorously with a two-year stint as Nathan Thompson in Granada TV's ill-fated and little-watched Soap Opera, Families.
The weekly soap opera told the relationship of two families, the Thompsons (in England) and the Stevens (in Australia). The main storyline concentrated on Mike Thompson leaving his family to move in with Diane Stevens and the complications that ensued.
Law was one of the few cast-members of Families to go on to bigger and better things, since starring in Hollywood blockbusters The Talented Mr Ripley, Alfie, Enemy at the Gates and most recently Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Sir Ben Kingsley - from Coronation Street to Gandhi
Like Jude Law, many forget that acting legend Sir Ben Kingsley CBE began his career rather unglamorously on a soap opera. In Kingsley’s case, he played Coronation Street’s Ron Jenkins from 1966-7, a character who courted the attention of Irma Barlow. Irma encouraged his attention, but when Ron stole her compact and refused to give it back until she agreed to a date, the only way she could get rid of him was to introduce him to her husband and face the consequences.
Matt Di Angelo and Anna Passey – from EastEnders and Hollyoaks to The Smoke
After entering their careers as soap stars on EastEnders and Hollyoaks, Matt Di Angelo and Anna Passey make their film debuts in the new gangster crime thriller, The Smoke.
In Hollyoaks Passey played Sienna Blake, a beautiful, clever and calculating character who entered the village with her controlling father, Patrick, but stays with her estranged twin brother, Dodger. Di Angelo began on EastEnders as Dean Wicks in 2006, a dark, brooding man with a chip on his shoulder, leaving in a whirlwind of violence and drama in 2008, but returning to Walford this year.
After his further successes on TV in Hustle and Borgia, Di Angelo has landed the starring role in The Smoke as city lawyer Brad Walker. In the worst day of his life, Brad’s high-maintenance girlfriend Sasha (Passey) has unceremoniously ditched him for his so-called friend Tom (Christian Brassington) and to add insult to injury he's just been fired. On a night out drowning his sorrows with old friend Dean (Jeff Leach), he happens to overhear a conversation between Phil (Darren Ripley) and Ben (Stephen Marcus) - two drug dealers working for small-time gangster Jack (Alan Ford). In no time at all, Brad manages to make off with a sports car, a call girl and £400,000 in cash... But that’s just the start.
Martine McCutcheon - from EastEnders to Love, Actually
Martine McCutcheon first starred in the role of Tiffany Raymond, the abandoned child of Louise, on the popular BBC Soap Opera EastEnders. As the role of Tiffany grew, so did McCutcheon's popularity, and 22 million viewers tuned in to see her final scenes in Albert Square on New Year’s Eve in 1998. In this episode McCutcheon’s character was run over by one of Frank Butcher's dodgy used cars, thereby killing her EastEnders career.
In 2003, after a brief and failed attempt at a pop music career, McCutcheon featured in her first major film role. She appeared as tea-lady Natalie in the Richard Curtis romantic comedy Love Actually, now a Christmas classic, where the British Prime Minister (played by Hugh Grant) falls in love with McCutcheon's character. McCutcheon and Grant’s budding relationship is exposed when a curtain is raised on them kissing at big finale of a school play.
Jude Law - from Families to The Talented Mr. Ripley
Arguably Britain's biggest soap-star-to-movie-star success is Jude Law, now one of Hollywood's finest actors. Unbeknownst to most, Law began his acting career rather unglamorously with a two-year stint as Nathan Thompson in Granada TV's ill-fated and little-watched Soap Opera, Families.
The weekly soap opera told the relationship of two families, the Thompsons (in England) and the Stevens (in Australia). The main storyline concentrated on Mike Thompson leaving his family to move in with Diane Stevens and the complications that ensued.
Law was one of the few cast-members of Families to go on to bigger and better things, since starring in Hollywood blockbusters The Talented Mr Ripley, Alfie, Enemy at the Gates and most recently Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Sir Ben Kingsley - from Coronation Street to Gandhi
Like Jude Law, many forget that acting legend Sir Ben Kingsley CBE began his career rather unglamorously on a soap opera. In Kingsley’s case, he played Coronation Street’s Ron Jenkins from 1966-7, a character who courted the attention of Irma Barlow. Irma encouraged his attention, but when Ron stole her compact and refused to give it back until she agreed to a date, the only way she could get rid of him was to introduce him to her husband and face the consequences.
- Article continues below...
- More stories you may like...
- Writer-director and star of Darlin', Pollyanna McIntosh, discusses horror, feminism and catharsis
- Deborah Frances-White's guilt-free feminism
- 10 films made by a female director for your next girl’s night
You might also like...
People who read this also read...
TRENDING
TRENDING CHANNELS
CONTRIBUTOR OF THE MONTH