Former Coronation Street star Jack James Ryan's first role since quitting the soap has been revealed. Fans best know the actor for playing Jacob Hay in the ITV soap.
Corrie fans came to love Jacob Hay after initially being despised for grooming Simon Barlow and for his treatment of a grieving Leanne Battersby. When he returned to the cobbles in 2022, Jacob struck up a relationship with Amy Barlow which has seen him stay on the street. While his return was initially met with disapproval from Simon, Leanne and Amy's family, he has since turned things around and even moved in with Ken Barlow and co at Number 1.
But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and last month, Corrie fans saw Jacob leave with those closest to him thinking the worst after he pretended to be back dealing drugs after getting into trouble with his drug boss dad, Damon, and being warned to leave the street or risk Amy being hurt.
Speaking about Jacob leaving with Amy and his friends thinking the worst of him, Jack told the Manchester Evening News and other press: "It's crushing. It's because it's so unjust and there's nothing you can really do about it. They think he's been lying the whole time and he was just this drug dealer all along.
"It's heartbreaking. And it's not just for Jacob, it's heartbreaking for me as well." He added with a laugh: "Hashtag Justice for Jacob." But addressing why he chose to leave, Jack says it was a 'difficult' decision but he felt like it was the right time. "It was a difficult decision because I love the character so much," he said before explaining: "I was coming up to that two-year mark on the show and the conversations upstairs were very much about, what I call, the fixtures and fittings.
"We were looking at the long haul of what this character was going to do and who was going to be on the street and that was incredibly humbling and those types of conversations were amazing but also, I'm still young and there's so much I want to go and do. I also felt, in a way, I've come and done what I intended to do.
"We talk of the Corrie bingo cards where you tick off things that you've done. Like, I've come in and played the villain, I've had my redemption arc, I punched Steve McDonald, I went to prison and I even moved into No.1 Coronation Street with Ken Barlow. You can't get much better than that."
He then added with a laugh: "Apart from a wedding and a tram crash, I feel like I've done it all in the past two years. But it just felt right. It felt like the right time to leave the show."
At the time, Manchester actor Jack teased what was coming up for him but couldn't reveal what he was working on next. However, it has now been confirmed that he's landed a role six-part darkly comic thriller for ITV called Passenger. Sharing what the show, which has already started filming in Cornholme, was about, ITV said: "After arriving there five years ago, Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa has been searching for that ‘one big crime’, that one challenge that will make her feel alive again.
"Then one-night local girl, Katie Wells is mysteriously abducted. Her car is found abandoned and there are traces of blood on the seats. But the village barely has time to register Katie’s disappearance before she reappears the next day, safe and sound. The rest of the villagers ask a few questions and life resumes as normal.
"But for Riya, a relative outsider to the Chadder Vale way of life, none of this sits right. As a series of strange happenings and increasingly horrific crimes start unfolding within the village, the residents start resorting to short-sighted theories and blaming outside influences. Riya fights hard to convince the villagers that all is not as it seems. And before long she is drawn into a universe unlike anything she has ever seen."
He'll take on the role John Trowbridge, a member of the close-knit community that is sent spinning on its axis following a series of strange and unnatural crimes, in the small Northern village of Chadder Vale. And he's not the only former Corrie star taking up a part in the series.
Matilda Freeman will be playing Lilly Wells and fans may remember her for originally playing Summer Spellman in the ITV soap between 2017 and 2020, when the character was recast and Harriet Bibby took over the role. Matilda explained at the time that she left because she wanted ‘to be able to work on other shows, films and projects’.
As for Passenger, Bafta-winning actress Wunmi Mosaku will take the role of Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa whilst Shameless star David Threlfall stars as Jim Bracknell. Further cast includes Daniel Ryan (The Bay) as Derek Jackson, Rowan Robinson (So Awkward) as Katie Wells, Barry Sloane (Six) as Eddie Wells, Natalie Gavin (Gentleman Jack) as Joanne Wells, Nico Mirallegro (My Mad Fat Diary, Rillington Place) as Kane Jackson, Hubert Hanowicz (This Is Going To Hurt) as Jakub Makowski, Shervin Alenabi (Baghdad In My Shadow) as Mehmet Shah, Ella Bruccoleri (Call The Midwife) as Ali Day and Arian Nik (The Bay) as Nish Chowdry.
READ NEXT:
- ITV Love Island fans figure out 'winners' as they predict one couple will survive after Movie Night 'lie' hit with complaints
- Stacey Solomon's Sort Your Life Out leaves viewers in tears after backlash resulted in official complaints
- Gemma Atkinson gives inisght into relationship with Gorka Marquez as he pines for pregnant fiancée
- ITV Corrie star asks shirtless Will Mellor to 'marry him' as he shows off ripped post-Strictly transformation
- Christine McGuinness says 'I can't believe this' as she shares big news before rocking leather ensemble
