Eagle-eyed Hollyoaks fans have spotted a familiar face in the latest series of After Life.
More than two decades on from his soap exit, Ben Hull - who played Lewis Richardson on the Channel 4 show - looks unrecognisable in his role on Ricky Gervais' hit comedy.
The third and final series of the comedy-drama premiered on Netflix earlier this month, and soap fans were quick to spot Ben, 49, making a cameo on screen.
Playing Jack - a potential love interest for Ashley Jenson's character Emma - the actor looked drastically different from his days as a soap star.
Sporting dark hair - a sharp contrast from his blonde highlights during his Hollyoaks days - and playing the role of a middle-aged man, Ben looked miles away from his stint as a bad boy on the Channel 4 soap.
"Did anyone else shout out 'Christ, it’s that bloke from early Hollyoaks!' During #afterlife? Lewis!! Good god, we’re old," one fan exclaimed on Twitter after recognising the actor on screen.
Another added: "Cannot tell you how happy it made me to see @benjhull pop up in After Life. Made me feel like I was 13 again, watching Hollyoaks."
Speaking on his own Twitter account, Ben admitted After Life creator Ricky was a personal hero of his and he thoroughly enjoyed his time on the show.
"Having loved ‘Afterlife’ from the very beginning, I can’t quite believe I got to be a part of it (or indeed that I made the edit!) They say 'never meet your heroes'. I met one of mine and he was amazing," the actor tweeted earlier this month.
"Thank you @rickygervais. You’ve made a rare and beautiful thing #AfterLife3."
Ben's big acting break came in 1995, when he landed the role of Lewis Richardson on Hollyoaks.
The actor - who is married to former Family Affairs co-star Anna Acton - went on to appear in the soap's spin-off shows, like Hollyoaks: Movin' On and Hollyoaks: Breaking Boundaries, but left the role for good in 2001.
Ben's exit from the show saw his character Lewis take his own life after a dramatic and controversial storyline.
Speaking about his final scenes at the time, the actor said: "When the producer outlined the story of Lewis’s self-destruction, my reaction was, ‘Brilliant!’
"Lewis was a good bloke for most of the time, but he’s always been involved in something a little bit dodgy.
"I think we’ve all seen that before, so for me it was better to do something totally unexpected and challenging, rather than just fade away."
After bidding farewell to the fictional village Hollyoaks, Ben went on to appear in many more soaps; including the now defunct Brookside, Doctors and Channel 5's short-lived offering, Family Affairs.
The dad-of-two has also enjoyed stints on medical dramas such as Casualty and Holby City.
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