大象传媒

Drawn to Ambridge and Lower Loxley by his love for Lily Pargetter, Russ was determined to prove himself to Elizabeth’s daughter. Elizabeth too was sceptical at first, and has been won round partly by Russ’s charm, but also his capacity to be of practical help and support in a crisis. He’s the go to person for all matters art and culture related – whether his advice is always sound on these topics is up for debate. Russ is not to everyone’s taste and has rubbed up more than his share of residents the wrong way with his special brand of polemic.

Lily’s brother Freddie has found opinionated Russ particularly challenging, taking longer than any of the family to warm to him, and having to work hard to find any common ground. A well-meaning soul at heart who meditates daily, Russ himself might argue he’s just a little misunderstood sometimes.

In 2022, Lily and Russ' relationship quickly collapsed when she struggled to show trust in him when he was wrongly accused of being the father of Chelsea's baby. And Russ felt betrayed when he discovered Lily's one-night stand. Russ packed his things and left his home and job at Lower Loxley.

• Likes - fine art; fine wine; good coffee
• Dislikes - Vulgarity; banality

I love playing Russ, just when you think you’ve got a handle on him he surprises you. He is involved in both high drama and comedy and there’s nothing more satisfying for me to inhabit those two worlds. He appreciates the intellectual and artistic and that leaves him open to accusations of pomposity but in my humble opinion his heart is in the right place. He’s a very divisive character but I have a genuine soft spot for him.

TV credits include - Das Boot (Sky), Ackley Bridge (C4), Snatch (Little Island), Creeped Out (大象传媒), Emmerdale (ITV), Moving On (大象传媒), Coronation Street (ITV), Mount Pleasant (Tiger Aspect), World’s End (大象传媒), Doctors 大象传媒, DCI Banks (ITV), Appropriate Adult (ITV), Hollyoaks (Lime TV), Lost in Austen (ITV), The Bill (Freemantle), The Royal Today (YTV), Northern Lights (Granada), The Chase (ITV), Blue Murder (Granada), Vincent (Granada), The Royal (YTV) and so on

Theatre credits include - Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Oldham Coliseum), Widowers Houses (New Vic), Peter Pan (New Vic), A Taste of Honey (Oldham Colieum), Rosencrantz and Guidenstern Are Dead (Library Theatre), Abigail’s Party (York Theatre Royal), Beautiful Thing (Bolton Octagon), Puss n Boots (Greenwich Theatre), Canterbury Tales (Dukes), Kafka’s Dick (Dukes), Twelfth Night (Royal Exchange), Angels in America (Unity Theatre), Design for Living (Royal Exchange), Mother Goose, Aladdin, Dick Whittington etc (Oldham Coliseum) and so on.

Radio credits include - Strings, Things Fall Apart, Your Blue Eyed Boy, Variations on a Theme by Neil Armstrong, What Masie Knew, Brief Lives, Bindi Business, Higher, Victory, Sense and Sensibility, Talking to Zeus, The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life, Mr Maugham’s Journey Home, Rafe, Hero Jones and so on.