Russ, a weighty prospect

"Throw enough mud at a wall and some of it will stick," he says.

Twenty-seven-year-old Russ, who lives in Hoghton, gave up his job as a parcel courier for a security firm a year ago to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time actor.

So far he has landed himself a string of walk-on parts in soaps such as Brookside, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

Russ, who tips the scales at around 17 stone, admits that he has been mainly playing "heavies".

"I was a thug in Brookside and an angry neighbour in Out Of The Blue so I suppose I'm getting a bit typecast," laughs Russ, who was brought up by his parents Roland and Anne in Highfield, Great Harwood, and attended Great Harwood Parish Junior School. "I'm trying to get more and more auditions and my ambition is to get a regular part in a soap. I'd love to play a Geordie copper as I love the North East - Jimmy Nail is one of my favourite actors." Russ currently supplements his acting income by being a self-employed taxi driver.

"If I was depending on acting for a living I'd be totally grey by now," he admits. "But if I can't get a regular part I'll be so disappointed because it's something I've always wanted to do."

He has also been practising his craft at the Chorley Drama Bureau, set up by Suzanne Hall who played Curly's girlfriend Kimberley in Coronation Street.

And he also recently had a role as a reporter in a new film called Downtime, starring Paul McGann, which is out next year.

It called for him to stand around a lot under a rain machine - yet another aspect of the glamorous world of acting.

"TV rain has to be ten times heavier than ordinary rain to be seen," he said. "It was pretty wet!"

But so far he has no regrets about giving up a steady job for an unpredictable career.

"I thought to myself if I don't do it now I'll look back in 20 years time and say 'I should have done it'."

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