Stepping onto the famous cobbles of Coronation Street is a monumental moment for any actor. But for Jack James Ryan the daily rush of excitement is enriched by something more... the thrill of simply being alive.
“Every day I get on set I think: ‘Wow, this could have been so different’,” says the star, who plays bad boy Jacob Hay.
So different could also have been so much worse after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer at 19. Luckily he caught it early but Jack is well aware how fortunate he is, and how many others are not.
“I don’t take anything for granted anymore,” says Jack. “I did before, but I don’t now – I know how lucky I am.
“When I was diagnosed with cancer, I did think there was a possibility I might not make it. But I did and I’m living my dream. I’m just so glad that things turned out well and I’m grateful that I’m here. I’m loving every second of it.”
Jack was studying at drama school when he returned to his mum Maranna’s house in Manchester for the Easter holidays and discovered a lump.
Maranna and his older sister Rebecca (best known for playing Adam Barlow’s stalker ex-girlfriend Lydia Chambers in Corrie this year) were both downstairs.
Jack, 25, recalls: “My sister had a friend round. I screamed: ‘Rebecca! Rebecca!’ She ran upstairs and I told her that her friend had to go. She asked her to leave and she came back upstairs with my mum and I told them what I’d found.”
Embarrassment over testicular cancer is one of the reasons many men ignore lumps and Jack admits he too faced that on his visit to the GP the next day.
“It was a trainee doctor and she was a young, pretty girl. I could tell she felt just as awkward as I did,” he recalls. “There was a male doctor supervising, but she was the one who had to examine me and feel it. It was a bit of a mad experience.”
Jack was referred to hospital where he had surgery to remove his left testicle and have a prosthetic replacement. He later received chemotherapy to ensure the cancer hadn’t spread.
He returned to his course at Guildford School of Acting in Surrey four months later.
He says: “I was really lucky. The doctors thought I’d literally found the lump within the week that it grew. That was why I didn’t need a lot of treatment afterwards. From finding the lump to being on the operating table took just two weeks. They moved so quickly.”
Yet the trauma took its toll on Jack’s mental health and he stopped dating for a year. “I was struggling with my body image and I didn’t feel comfortable being intimate in that way with another person,” he says candidly.
Jack had counselling, but what really helped him come to terms with what had happened was writing a play about his experiences, Me & My Left Ball in 2019.
He recalls: “It was a proper grieving experience. I was able to write down everything I was feeling. Sometimes in rehearsals I’d have to go out and cry. I’d think: ‘F***, I actually went through this.’
“I bottled things up. It was that toxic masculinity of not being able to say how you feel. I hadn’t cried in front of somebody since I was a kid.
“I remember being in hospital and the doctor confirming it was cancer. My mum and my sister both burst into tears and I remember thinking: ‘Jack, don’t cry.’
“I was really scared and I probably needed to cry, but I thought if I stayed strong then everybody else would feel OK about it.”
Jack, who is in remission and has checks every six months, is a Teenage Cancer Trust supporter.
He says: “I always thought testicular cancer was an old man’s cancer, so once I recovered I wanted to speak out to other young men and tell them to get themselves checked out.
“Teenage Cancer Trust specialist nurses look after 13-24 year olds. The nurses help with mental health – body image, confidence issues and how young people will feel about missing school and exams. The work they do is incredibly impactful.”
Before his cancer diagnosis, Jack had been a child actor. But he and Rebecca, 30, are not the only performers in the family.
Mum Maranna was the first ever Irish Dancing champion and their older brother Charlie, 34, was the first to appear on TV, aged 14, in the BBC drama State of Play, with John Simm. Rebecca played his little sister.
“And I just copied them!” Jack laughs. He began acting classes and landed his first role in 2005 on the TV movie Titanic: Birth of a Legend, when he was eight. “I played an Irish boy. My mum has a proper thick Irish accent and I just used to copy her,” he says.
After leaving drama school Jack appeared as a soldier alongside Kristen Scott Thomas in the film Military Wives and also in Emmerdale as a thug who stabbed Ellis Chapman.
“That’s all I ever get,” he grins. “Racists, criminals and drug dealers!”
When acting work dried up during lockdown, Jack took a job as a teaching assistant working with young children with additional needs.
Then last year he audition for the role of Corrie drug dealer Jacob. “I remember reading the summary and saying to my mum: ‘This is me; I’m not taking no for an answer!’” Jack spent three months on the show, but was so popular that Jacob returned this year.
Jack could not be more different than his bad boy screen character. Polite, articulate and big-hearted, he took a year out and headed to Africa for four months. He lived with a local family in Tanzania with no running water and electricity, while working in hospitals and schools.
He says: “If I hadn’t been an actor, I’d have worked in international development or social work. It’s something I’m passionate about.”
Jack is single and still lives with his mum. “She’s trying to marry me off, so if there are any eligible readers out there, get in contact!” he jokes.
“My mum can’t get rid of me. As long as she’s cooking my meals and cleaning my clothes there’s no chance. I’m a massive Mummy’s boy!”
- Learn more about Teenage Cancer Trust at www.teenagecancertrust.org
