EXCLUSIVE: From Hollyoaks to Hollywood – and back again? Ricky Whittle opens up on a soap return now he’s ‘done’ with LA life
He made his name playing Calvin Valentine in Hollyoaks before his character was brutally murdered in 2011.
And following his stint on the CH4 show actor Ricky Whittle, 43, has gone on to crack Hollywood with roles in huge hit shows including The 100 and American Gods.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival he revealed he has no plans to return to the Cheshire based soap despite ‘being done’ with America and it’s ‘crazy politics’.
Saying: ‘Would I ever do a soap again? Probably not, but for fun why not, I don’t care as I’m in a fortunate position, where I don’t need to work,’
He went on to say: ‘I haven’t been in Hollyoaks for 20 years but at the end of the day you can never shy away from where you came from’.
From Hollyoaks to Hollywood! Ricky Whittle, 43, has revealed if he would ever return to soaps after making it big in Tinsel Town (pictured this week)
Soap star: He made his name playing Calvin Valentine in Hollyoaks before his character was brutally murdered in 2011 (pictured on the show in 2007)
‘If it wasn’t for Hollyoaks I wouldn’t be where I am now. Hollyoaks is an education, you’re learning 12 to 15 scripts every day and halfway through a day, new pages are coming down and it’s like “learn them now” and you just get it done and don’t think about’.
He continued: ‘My character went from being the good guy, to the bad guy to the club owner, to the policeman, to your sister’s on drugs, to you’d killed someone and then he’s back to life – it’s like you go through a whole gambit of emotions’.
‘If that’s not great education for an actor- I don’t know what is.’
Before adding: ‘I would never look down on soap actors because they’re the ones that are putting in five days a week and I’ve got nothing but love for those guys and what that show did for me.’
Elsewhere in the chat Ricky revealed how he misses the British people and not the bad weather.
‘I don’t miss England, but I miss the people in England, and I miss the banter. You can’t find anyone like Brits and the more you live in America you realise sarcasm is void. There’s no such thing as sarcasm in America, they don’t get our humour.
Before going on to say: ‘They think we’re mean because they all think we’re Hugh Grants or like the characters in Bridgerton and Downton Abbey.’
‘I love going back to the UK but as a whole I don’t miss it because I’m a sun whore and I love the heat’.
No thanks: Ricky has no plans to return to the Cheshire based soap despite ‘being done’ with America and it’s ‘crazy politics’ (pictured on the show with co-star Jennifer Metcalfe)
Making it big: Following his stint on the show Ricky Whittle has gone on to crack Hollywood with roles in huge hit shows including The 100 and American Gods (pictured)
He added: ‘I’m house hunting and I don’t know whether to go Australia or Italy because I just love the heat. I’m definitely done with America; I’m done with the crazy politics over there’.
Ricky, who previously had a high-profile romance with his Hollyoaks co-star Carly Stenson, refuses to lift the lid on his current relationship status.
Since heading to LA, the actor has been linked to former Gossip Girl actress Jessica Szhor and Demi Moore’s daughter Rumer Willis.
He said: ‘I love the fact that I’m now doing things my way then when I was in England, I did it a different way. I did the topless calendars, I did the photoshoots, and I did the interviews where I talked about my love life all the time.’
He continued: ‘When I moved to America, I told myself “I’m going to do it differently.” I don’t talk about my love life ever – no one ever knows if I’m dating or whom I’m dating’.
‘I could be married, and you’ll never know. It’s hard to be in a relationship without the press and the public getting involved.’
While Ricky’s Instagram features a slate of shirtless images of his taut physique – he admits that he tries to be transparent with his fans as he doesn’t believe the quest for physical perfection is everything it’s cracked up to be.
Hollywood star: He said: ‘If it wasn’t for Hollyoaks I wouldn’t be where I am now. Hollyoaks is an education, you’re learning 12 to 15 scripts every day’
Bye! Despite splashing out on a £1.3M LA mansion in 2019 (pictured) he says he is ‘done with America’ and now hunting for a home in Australia or Italy – not the rainy UK
‘Social media is just a snapshot of highlights and we’ve got to stop pushing our lives into these highlight reels where everyone thinks everything is perfect,’ said Ricky.
Revealing: ‘Whenever I post a topless selfie, I am the first to say, “I am in pain here, I’m dehydrated, I’ve not eaten breakfast yet and I always put out disclaimers because it’s so toxic when people pretend they haven’t had surgery, or they’re not training and have got some magical pill.’
But it hasn’t been all plain sailing for Ricky in Tinseltown as when his character Lincoln got killed off in the dystopian drama The 100 in 2016, he condemned the way showrunner Jason Rothenberg wrote his character off the series.
He alleged that behind the scenes, Rothenberg diminished Lincoln’s role, ‘bullying’ him off the show.
‘Something I’ve always said in life is no haters, trolls, or anyone criticising me is ever doing better than me’.
He said: ‘People who have cussed out my acting have never acted before – they are idiots sat in their mum’s basement. Anyone who is doing better than me is focused on their own thing, as it should be’.
‘I used to read the trolls’ comments when I was younger but now, I really don’t care as do you think I really care because I’m in the leading shows and in movies.’
He then dished on the £1.2million LA mansion he splashed out on in 2019: ‘I live in a beautiful home; I have my own pool and my own gym – I’m sitting with my feet up. Do you think I really care that someone is going – “I don’t like you, I think you’re terrible”.
‘People can talk down all they want but at the end of the day as an actor you want to be working – so never slay someone who is working.’
His next role will see him star in the forthcoming American action thriller film Land of the Bad, alongside Russell Crowe, Liam and Luke Hemsworth and Milo Anthony Ventimiglia.
‘We literally hit off straight away,’ says Ricky. ‘We were four guys running through the hills like children with fake guns goofing around.’
He continued: ‘Luke Hemsworth is literally like my twin brother and he took me home to meet his mum and dad. He introduced me to his mum as the fourth Hemsworth brother.
‘He was like “this is the fourth kid you didn’t realise you had.” She was like “you’re the one I’m proud of because you can speak properly. ‘
But despite the compliment, Ricky admits he’s still just ‘a ghetto boy from Oldham’.
‘When I’m in America, people are like – “you’re so posh,” and I’m like “no I’m not, I just sound English to you, as long as it’s English it’s posh to you,” but I’m proper ghetto’.
He admitted: ‘If you parked near my estate and I’m talking about estate not house , you’d lost your wheels. People will take your wheels and your car will be on bricks. That’s the neighbourhood I grew up in.’
Buff: While Ricky’s Instagram features a slate of shirtless images of his taut physique – he admits that he tries to be transparent with his fans
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