Max Parker (actor)

For other people by this name, see Max Parker.

Maxwell Nathaniel J Brown (born 7 February 1992), known professionally as Max Parker, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Mikhail Tanner in the Peacock fantasy horror series Vampire Academy (2022), Luke Posner in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale (2019-2021), and Alasdair "Base" Newman in the BBC medical drama Casualty (2018–2019).

Max Parker
Born	Maxwell Nathaniel J Brown (1992-02-07) 7 February 1992 (age 33) Bolton, Manchester, England
Alma mater	Arts Educational Schools London
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2013–present
Partner(s)	Kris Mochrie (2020–present; engaged)
Parents	Steve Kelleher-Brown Susan McKenna

Early life and education

Maxwell Nathaniel J Brown was born on 7 February 1992 in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, to Christine (née Kelleher) and Stephen Brown, and is the youngest out of three children.^[1] He studied musical theatre at Pendleton College, graduating in 2010 before continuing his studies at Arts Educational Schools in London, which he graduated from in 2013.^[2]

Career

Parker made his stage debut as part of the ensemble cast of Barnum.^[3] In 2014, he appeared in the musical I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical and began appearing in Matilda the Musical until 2015.^[4][5] In 2016, Parker portrayed Paul in Kiss Me, Kate, and starred as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Performance at the UK Theatre Awards.^[6][7][8] The same year, he made his acting debut as Christopher Morgan in the feature film My B.F.F.^[9]

In August 2018, Parker began appearing in the BBC One medical drama Casualty as Alasdair "Base" Newman on a recurring basis. He made his final appearance in January 2019 when his character died of a heroin overdose.^[10] He then appeared as Danny in an episode of World on Fire.^[9] In August 2019, Parker joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Luke Posner, the son and brother of established characters Wendy Posner (Susan Cookson) and Lee Posner (Kris Mochrie).^[11][12] He had originally auditioned for the role of Jamie Tate, which ultimately went to Alexander Lincoln.^[13] He made his departure from the soap in June 2021.^[14]

In 2020, Parker appeared in two episodes of COBRA as John Cripps and played Alex in the film Love Sarah.^[9] In 2022, he starred as Mikhail Tanner in the Peacock fantasy horror series Vampire Academy and portrayed Henry Tudor in the Netflix series Blood, Sex & Royalty.^[15][16][17] In 2024, Parker is set to star alongside Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga in the Netflix series The Corps.^[18] In March 2025, it was announced that Parker had been cast in the next series of Doctor Who.^[19]

Personal life

Parker is openly gay, after coming out during an interview with Attitude magazine in December 2020, in which he confirmed he was in a relationship with Emmerdale co-star Kris Mochrie.^[20][21] They announced their engagement in January 2022.^[22][23]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2016	My B.F.F.	Christopher Morgan	Film	[9]
2018–2019	Casualty	Alasdair "Base" Newman	Recurring role	[10]
2019–2021	Emmerdale	Luke Posner	Regular role	[14]
2019	World on Fire	Danny	1 episode	[9]
2020	COBRA	John Cripps	2 episodes	[9]
2020	Love Sarah	Alex	Film	[9]
2022	Vampire Academy	Mikhail Tanner	Main role	[15]
2022	Blood, Sex & Royalty	Henry VIII	Main role	[16]
2024	Strictly Confidential	Will	Film	[24]
2024	The Corps †	Sgt. Sullivan	Post-production	[18]
2025	Doctor Who	Unknown role	1 episode	[19]

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Ref.
2013	Barnum	Amos Scudder / Edgar Templeton	Chichester Festival Theatre	[3]
2014–2015	Matilda the Musical	Rudolpho	Cambridge Theatre	[5]
2016	Guys and Dolls	Sky Masterson	Savoy Theatre	[8]
2016	Kiss Me, Kate	Paul	Welsh National Opera	[6]
2018	The Wizard of Oz	Tin Man	Sheffield Crucible Theatre	[25]