Scott Alexander Maslen (born 25 June 1971) is an English actor and model, best known for his portrayal as DS Phil Hunter in the ITV police drama series ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' and

Jack Branning DI Jack Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Scott Maslen. He made his first appearance on 29 October 2007. He is the youngest child of Jim ( John Bardon) and Reenie Branning (Joy Graham) and the ...

in 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 A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' since 2007. He also took part in the 2010 series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'' and the 2015 series of '' Celebrity MasterChef''. He portrayed Claude Speed in the live-action trailer for '' Grand Theft Auto 2'' in 1999.

Early life

Maslen was born in Woolwich, London, England on 25 June 1971. As a young boy Maslen admired the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

and attended Bromley Marines Cadets on a Monday and a Thursday at T.S. ''Narvik'' in Bromley Common. He was brought up in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

and signed up to join the

with his school friends, Marcus Marnham and Simon Farnham at the age of 16. He later sustained an injury whilst doing the PRMC (Potential Royal Marines Course), resulting in him not gaining entry to the Recruit training course.''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'', 22 May 2009 He has been a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

since the age of 18; he discussed this on appearances on both ''

The Paul O'Grady Show ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' was a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme was a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances ...

'' and ''

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme featured Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show ...

''.

Career

At the age of 18 he went to Miami and was spotted by photographer Bruce Weber. As a result of this encounter he began a career as an international model. Five years later, he turned to acting. After training at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

, he landed a role in the successful television series '' Lock, Stock...'' in 2000. He has also played the live action rendition of Claude Speed in

DMA Design Rockstar North (Rockstar Games UK Limited; formerly DMA Design Limited) is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The studio is best known for creating the ''Lemmings (series), Lemmings'' and ''Grand ...

's promotional video and opening sequence for '' Grand Theft Auto 2''. After a few more television and film roles he landed his part in ''

'' in 2002. On 13 July 2007 it was announced that Maslen would be leaving ''

'' and joining the cast of ''

'' as regular character

. His love interest was Ronnie Mitchell, played by best friend

Samantha Womack Samantha Zoe Womack (''née'' Janus; born 2 November 1972) is an English actress, singer, model and director who has worked in film, television and stage. Womack initially planned a career in singing and she represented the United Kingdom in ...

. Both actors commented that they were uncomfortable doing love scenes since they have known each other most of their lives and are like brother and sister. Maslen left ''EastEnders'' on 15 October 2013. Maslen performed in the pantomime ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'' at the Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth over the Christmas/New Year period of 2013/2014. He performed the same pantomime at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury over the Christmas/New Year period of 2014/2015. He performed it again at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley over Christmas/New Year 2015/2016. Maslen made an unannounced return to the show on 24 December 2015, later confirming that this would be permanent. Maslen said "It was like I hadn't left. It felt a bit strange because there are new characters who I don't know – but that fits with the story".

''Strictly Come Dancing''

Maslen participated in the 2010 series of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' with professional dancer Natalie Lowe and his performances were favourably received by the judges. He was the 2nd celebrity of 2010 to score a 10 from the judges, following fellow ''EastEnders'' actress Kara Tointon scoring a 10 for her

Pasodoble Pasodoble ( Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This often was accompanied by ...

in week 5, the same week where Maslen scored three 10s for his Viennese Waltz. In week 7 he also received three 10s for his Jive, with Bruno stating that it was the best Jive since former ''EastEnders'' star

Jill Halfpenny Jill Halfpenny (born 15 July 1975) is an English actress who first garnered attention playing Nicola Dobson in the coming-of-age BBC drama series '' Byker Grove'' (1989–1992). She became more widely known for her roles as Rebecca Hopkins on ...

's in Series 2, and received just one point less. Maslen showed a natural talent for dancing, topping the leaderboard on many occasions, however was eliminated in week 11 of the series.

Awards

He was nominated in the top four for "Sexiest Male" at the British Soap Awards 2008, but was beaten by

Rob James-Collier Robert James-Collier (born 23 September 1976), sometimes billed as Rob James-Collier, is a British actor widely known for his roles as Liam Connor in ''Coronation Street'', Thomas Barrow in ''Downton Abbey'', and Martin Evershed in '' Ackley ...

from ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''. At the 2009 British Soap Awards, Maslen won in the Sexiest Male category, against fellow ''EastEnders'' actors Rob Kazinsky ( Sean Slater) and John Partridge ( Christian Clarke). He later went on to have a successful year at the 2010 British Soap Awards, winning both Best Actor and Sexiest Male. In 2011 and 2012, Maslen won "Sexiest Male" at the British Soap Awards.

Personal life

He is married to Estelle Maslen (née Rubio), who is the mother of his son Zak Alexander Maslen (born 25 January 2001). The couple were together for nine years before they were married on 6 September 2008. Several of Maslen's co-stars were in attendance at his wedding, including:

Rita Simons Rita Joanne Simons (born 10 March 1977) is an English actress and singer. After beginning her career as a member of the short-lived girl group Girls@Play, she became best known for portraying the role of Roxy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''Ea ...

, Charlie Clements, Jo Joyner, Steve McFadden,

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.

Patsy Palmer Julie Anne Merkell (''née'' Harris; born 26 May 1972), known professionally as Patsy Palmer, is a British actress and DJ. After appearing as Natasha in the children's drama series ''Grange Hill'' (1985–1987), she came to prominence for her p ...

Diane Parish Diane Carol Richards (born 6 November 1969), known professionally as Diane Parish, is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2006. A graduate of the Royal Academy of D ...

and Perry Fenwick. He is best friends with his former ''

'' co-star Samantha Womack, whom he has known since they were teenagers, and her former husband Mark Womack. He is also godfather to their two children, Lily-Rose and Benjamin Womack. Benjamin is also best friends with Maslen's son Zak. Maslen is a keen

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

fisherman, and has been involved in many charity events.Good catches reported from all lakes as temperatur
/ref>

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maslen, Scott 1971 births Living people British Soap Award for Best Actor winners English male models British male models Actors from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Royal Marines ranks Male actors from London English male soap opera actors Models from London People from Woolwich