Emmerdale actor lands huge Hollywood role just two years after soap exit
EXCLUSIVE: Mark Hampton had a pivotal role in the Emmerdale 50th anniversary special but he has swapped Yorkshire for Hollywood in his latest role.
Emmerdale actor Mark Hampton has left the Dales far behind in his new role opposite wrestling superstar turned-actor John Cena and the iconic Idris Elba. Mark was an integral part of the show’s 50th anniversary celebrations playing Cain Dingle’s (played by Jeff Hordley) lawyer.
As part of the show’s explosive storylines for the landmark occasion, Cain found himself arrested for the murder of Al Chapman (Michael Wildman). Mark was brought into the show to play his defence. However, it transpired that Cain’s 10-year-old son Kyle Winchester (Huey Quinn) was the actual culprit and when he admitted it Cain was in the clear.
“It was a very dramatic storyline,” Mark exclusively told emmerdalesnews.com from his home in Cambridge. “I got to play his lawyer, his solicitor…and he at the time, wasn’t letting anything slip. Obviously, as it turned out, it wasn’t him. It was the kid that actually pulled the trigger. And so he was protecting the kid and he was doing the right thing.
“So for me as an actor, it was quite funny because I read those first couple of episodes that I was in and I thought, ‘this is going to be great, this is going to go to court. There’s going to be loads of cool courtroom drama and stuff like this.’ And then the big reveal happened and it was like, ‘Oh, that’s a shame’. So my tenure in Emmerdale was kind of cut short,” he laughs.
Despite the twist which saw his character exit the show sooner than he expected he still thoroughly enjoyed his time on the programme. “It was a really great experience. I had a wonderful time doing it and it’s fun because when you go and shoot up there all the sets are in this kind of big warehouse. And they do the big Emmerdale tour – you can go and see all these sets and things…It’s really cool to see all the snippets of all the other bits of the world of Emmerdale before you actually go into your little bit,” he enthused.
Mark Hampton went from playing Cain Dingle’s lawyer to working with John Cena (Image: Mark Hampton)
He also has nothing but praise for co-star Jeff Hordley: “I have to say, Jeff, oddly, was absolutely [lovely] – I think it’s often the case that people who play villains are the opposite in real life.
“They are the most lovely, lovely kind human, full of humility, very humble. And he was that he was absolutely a joy to work with on the set when I was when I was with him. It was lovely to work with him.”
Mark’s latest role couldn’t be further away from Emmerdale as he is appearing in the upcoming Amazon Studios big-budget action flick Heads of State alongside John Cena and Idris Elba.
“He’s fantastic. John Cena was absolutely great,” he says of the star. “He’s such a bright light, you don’t want to forget that the wrestling – it’s a performance so there’s a real artistry to it…He’s a real performer and he was absolutely fantastic to work with, a lovely guy. Very big guy – he was sliding into the Presidential limousine in a big car and he was kind of having to be squeezed into it.
The shooting of Al Chapman in Emmerdale was one of the big 50th anniversay stories (Image: ITV)
“He was playing the president United States. And Idris Elba was playing the Prime Minister and they have this kind of this kind of buddy movie. But it’s a kind of wrong couple type thing where they’re at each other’s throats for a bit and they have to learn how to work together. So it’s, at least for me, a cracking film.
Explaining how he got involved in it Mark, who plays one of the President’s security team explained: “I was an actor for 20-plus years and I had a break when I had my kids. My kids are a bit older now and I’ve been lucky enough to come back into it…doing some independent movies and doing some TV and some commercials and a mix of stuff and just kind of being a jobbing actor, which has been really lovely.
“And that includes going from different scales of production kind of day to day. So one day you will be doing Emmerdale, the next an indie film where there’s a minimal crew, and the next day I might be doing Heads of State where I’m sitting in the back of a presidential limo with John Cena who’s one of the kind of biggest stars in the world!”
Outside of working with Hollywood royalty, Mark also makes his own work and has written and directed a new project called Unlicensed which will be coming out later in the year. Meanwhile, Amazon has yet to give a release date for Heads of State but it is expected to be later this year.
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV and ITVX.
