Ross McLaren (born 24 October 1991) is an English actor. McLaren began his career performing in various stage productions, including '' Big the Musical'' and ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

''. Then in 2021, he was cast in the role of Luca McIntyre on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

''. For his role as Luca, he was nominated at award ceremonies including the

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and begun in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted o ...

, the

RTS Midlands Awards The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

and the

British Soap Awards The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV (TV network), ITV. The trophies given to the winners are made from metal a ...

. In 2022, McLaren took a break from the soap to appear in a touring production of ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno a ...

'', returning afterwards.

Life and career

McLaren was born on 24 October 1991 in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...

. McLaren studied at the Joyce Mason School of Dance, as well as the Millennium Theatre Arts School. After graduating, he appeared in ''

42nd Street 42nd Street most commonly refers to: *42nd Street (Manhattan), a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan It may also refer to: *42nd Street (film), ''42nd Street'' (film), a 1933 American Warner Bros. musical film with lyri ...

'' at the

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He then appeared in a touring production of '' Annie'' through New Zealand, and starred in a production of ''

'' at the

Théâtre du Châtelet The Théâtre du Châtelet () is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a ''châtelet'', a ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, in the role of Sid Phillips. McLaren is married to fellow actress Hannah McIver, whom he met in a stage production of ''It Happened in Key West'' in 2018. That same year, McLaren co-founded

head shot A head shot or headshot is a photographic portrait in which the focus is on the subject's face. The term is usually applied to professional profile images on social media, images used on online dating profiles, and promotional images of actors, ...

photography company Yellowbelly. In February 2021, it was announced that he had joined the regular cast of the

daytime soap opera ''

'' as nurse Luca McIntyre. His debut appearance aired on 24 February 2021. For his portrayal of the role, he was longlisted for the Newcomer award at the

26th National Television Awards The 26th National Television Awards were held on 9 September 2021 at the O2. The ceremony was the first to be hosted by Joel Dommett who replaces David Walliams after only one year. The ceremony was originally scheduled for January 2021, but wa ...

, as well as being nominated for the

British Soap Award for Best Newcomer The British Soap Award for Best Newcomer is an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards. The award is voted for by a panel. ''EastEnders'' is the most awarded soap in the category, with nine wins. ''Emmerdale'' is the only current so ...

. In 2022, he starred in a touring production of ''Singin' in the Rain'', this time in the role of Cosmo Brown. He took a break from his role in ''Doctors'' to appear in the tour, with his management confirming that he would reprise his role as Luca following the completion of the tour. He returned to ''Doctors'' and appeared continuously until November 2024, when the series ended.

Stage

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaren, Ross 1991 births English male musical theatre actors British male soap opera actors English male stage actors Living people Male actors from Lincolnshire People educated at Joyce Mason School of Dance People from Scunthorpe Actors from the Borough of North Lincolnshire