James Farrar (actor)

James Castling Farrar (born 19 June 1987) is an English actor and model, known for his roles as Liam Gilmore in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks. He rose to prominence in 2021 for his portrayal of Zack Hudson in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.

James Farrar
Farrar in 2022
Born	James Castling Farrar (1987-06-19) 19 June 1987 (age 37) Greenwich, London, England
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupations	Actor model
Years active	2011–present
Television	Hollyoaks EastEnders
Spouse	Ali Roff Farrar ​ (m. 2017)​ [1]
Children	1[2]

Early and personal life

Farrar was born on 19 June 1987 in Greenwich, London.^[3][4][5] He undertook a drama and media studies degree at the University of Portsmouth graduating in 2008. He graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2010. He is also a qualified personal trainer and vegan chef.^[6] He married Ali Roff Farrar in 2017 and they have a daughter born in 2021.^[7][8]

Career

Prior to acting, Farrar worked as a model.^[9] He made his acting debut in an episode of EastEnders as Brendan, before appearing in a number of short films including Donkey, Dominic and Loser. In 2011, he joined the cast of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks as Liam Gilmore.^[10] He left the role in 2013.^[11]

In 2021, he joined the BBC One soap opera EastEnders as Zack Hudson, the long lost half-brother of Sharon Watts (Letitia Dean) and son of Gavin Sullivan (Paul Nicholas).^{[12][13][14][15]}

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	EastEnders	Brendan	Episode: 11 November 2011
2011	Donkey	David	Short film
2011	Dominic	Will	Short film
2012	Loser	Ashley	Short film
2012–2013	Hollyoaks	Liam Gilmore	Series regular
2013	By Any Means	Andy	Season 1, episode 6
2014	Bin Men	Mick	Short film
2015	Silent Witness	Dean Fallon	Episode: "One of our Own (Parts I & II)"
2016	Anti Matter	James the Righteous
2016	Doctors	Steven Cropper	Episode: "Sparks"
2017	Call the Midwife	Lester Watts	Season 6, episode 1
2021	Blank Shores	Connor	Short film
2021	Off Your Head		Post-production
2021–present	EastEnders	Zack Hudson	Regular role

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2021	Inside Soap Awards	Best Newcomer	Longlisted	[16]
2021	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Newcomer	Nominated	[17]
2021	Digital Spy Reader Awards	Best Soap Newcomer	Won	[18]
2022	Inside Soap Awards	Best Double Act (shared with James Bye)	Longlisted	[19]
2023	British Soap Awards	Best Leading Performer	Longlisted	[20]
2023	National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	Longlisted	[21]
2023	Inside Soap Awards	Best Actor	Longlisted	[22]
2024	TV Choice Awards	Best Soap Actor	Longlisted	[23]

References

1. Waterfall, Sarah (30 March 2021). "EastEnders star James Farrar: 'Working with Letitia Dean is incredible'". What's on TV. Future plc. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
2. West, Amy (30 November 2021). "EastEnders star James Farrar and wife Ali reveal baby's arrival with cute post". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
3. Quinn, Angie (18 July 2022). "EastEnders' James Farrar's real age and heartbreaking reason he quit modelling". MyLondon.
4. "James Castling Farrar". freeBMD. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
5. "Secret beach, G&T, Party hat #selectmen #kefalonia #model #actor #happy". Instagram. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
6. "JAMES FARRAR | Select London". Select Model Management.
7. West, Amy (30 November 2021). "EastEnders' James Farrar and wife Ali announce baby's arrival". Digital Spy.
8. "Inside EastEnders hunk James Farrar's gorgeous London home and landscaped garden". 22 July 2021.
9. "EastEnders' James Farrar shares touching reason he quit modelling". Digital Spy. 19 July 2022.
10. "'Hollyoaks' newcomer teases Liam arrival". Digital Spy. 3 August 2012.
11. "EastEnders signs up model and actor to play 'ladies' man'". North Wales Pioneer. 31 January 2021.
12. "EastEnders casts former Hollyoaks actor James Farrar as newcomer Zack, 31 January 2021". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
13. "EastEnders: James Farrar joins soap as 'charismatic' Zack Hudson". Entertainment Daily. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
14. "Silent Witness and Call The Midwife star James Farrar joins the cast of EastEnders, 31 January 2021". WhatsOnTV. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
15. "EastEnders cast: Who is joining, leaving and returning to the soap?, 1 February 2021". Radio Times. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
16. Alexander, Susannah (28 September 2021). "Inside Soap Awards announces 2021 longlist as voting opens – here's who's up for prizes". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Archived from the original on 2 October 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
17. Gonzalez, Elliot (14 November 2021). "I Talk Telly Awards 2021 Nominations". I Talk Telly. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
18. Draper, Joe (21 December 2021). "The Digital Spy Reader Awards 2021 full results". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
19. Harp, Justin (18 July 2022). "Inside Soap Awards announces nominations and new category for 2022 event". Digital Spy. (Hearst Communications). Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
20. Cormack, Morgan (11 April 2023). "British Soap Awards 2023 longlist: EastEnders' Ravi vs Corrie's Stephen". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
21. Cormack, Morgan (23 May 2023). "NTAs 2023 longlist revealed – SAS Rogue Heroes, Call the Midwife and more". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
22. Kilkelly, Daniel (4 July 2023). "Inside Soap Awards 2023 announces full list of nominees". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
23. "Welcome to the 27th TV Choice Awards!". TV Choice. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.

External links

• James Farrar at IMDb