Hollyoaks legend Paul Danan reveals he turned to fixing phone screens for a living after acting roles dried up

FORMER Hollyoaks star Paul Danan has always been refreshingly open about the highs and lows he experience on the showbiz merry-go-round.

The actor made his name on Hollyoaks in the 90s before a stint on Celebrity Love Island in the early noughties made him one of Britain’s most recognisable faces.

But in pursuit of the Hollywood dream, Paul fell upon hard times, developing a drug addiction, as well as spells in rehab, as he struggled to come to terms with the rejection and the difficulty of making ends meet.

Now in an interview with the 46-yea- old admitted that he even turned to fixing phone screens, to keep body and soul together.

He said: “I worked in a place called Smashed It, which is where if you drop your Iphone and the screen smashes then we’ll fix it for you. I was working there for a bit, probably about 10 years ago and that was just to get a bit of money on the side.”

Having trained as an actor at the Italia Conti Theatre School, Paul played Sol Patrick in the Channel 4 soap from 1997 to 2001.

Then at the height of his popularity, he left the soap, intent on breaking Hollywood.

But now looking back, Paul says that he was wrong to quit the hit, as Hollywood success continued to elude him.

He says: “It’s very tough. I mean, maybe years ago I shouldn't have left Hollyoaks, but I made that decision because after four years, I didn't want be typecast and back then, everyone didn't want to be the next Ken Barlow. You wanted to go off and play different roles, especially when you're a real actor. 

'I needed to play different roles, I mean how many storylines can one character have?  I wanted to go to LA and I did. And I got very close to some very big, big films and things like that. But the rejection... the one thing I hate in life is rejection. “

Being an A-list film star is seen as being ultimate achievement as an actor, but in a profession where most thespians are out of work, Paul says that soap stars don’t often appreciate their luck.

Acting is a tough job and I think you don't realise how lucky you are when you're in a soap and you've got the closest thing to a nine to five  job in acting that you can get. And when you get out there, you're like s**t, man, it is really tough!'

In 2005 he starred on Celebrity Love Island with a raft of well known TV personalities including Jayne Middlemiss, Rebecca Loos and Lee Sharpe and Paul’s big personality and quick wit proved a hit with the viewers.

But he realised that reality TV success was not conducive to serious acting work.

He said:

'It didn't help with my acting career because suddenly people were like "oh, we don't want to hire a reality star!' Casting directors were a bit snobby like that, they don't people want to see me on a TV show thinking "isn't that the guy from Love Island?" It wasn't good for my acting career and it took a long time to get that back. I don't know if it's even fully redeemed even all these years later.”

Now after more than 30 years in the industry, since he first started at Italia Conti aged 16, Paul is now passing on his experience.

The actor has set up his own initiative, Morning After Drama, which uses drama workshops to help people recovering from addiction and mental health problems, which was conceived in 2020.

He says: “It's about giving back really. I deliver drama for free in the communities. It gives them sense of escape in a healthy way and it helps them with their confidence, and I role play all different things, from relationships, job interviews skills or just to have a laugh. We write and produce plays which build to performances and it's been really successful.”