Guy Burnet

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Guy Burnet
Born	August 8, 1983 (1983-08-08) (age 24) London, England

Guy Burnet (born 8 August 1983) is an English television, theatre and film actor best known for playing Craig Dean in the British Channel 4 series Hollyoaks between 2002 and 2007 along with a number of independent and short films. Before taking on professional acting roles, Guy could have become a professional footballer.^[1] Also Nominated for 4 acting awards.

1 Biography
2 On his role in Hollyoaks
3 After Hollyoaks
4 Television
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Guy was born in London and attended Holland Park School where his interest in drama first developed, taking an A level in the subject.^[2]. Acting as a profession was not initially on the cards for Guy, he always wanted to be a footballer and attended Queens Park Rangers Soccer School. He subsequently undertook trials and played in europe and Tel Aviv before coming back to London to complete his A levels^[3]. After securing an agent he struck lucky with his second ever audition which was for Hollyoaks and he joined the cast in 2002 as a main character and series regular. Leaving in 2007 he acted in a number of independents and shorts, winning plenty of competitions including best short thriller at the NY film festival. He may not have set out to be an actor but as he says “Now I’m as ambitious as any other actor; but realistic.”^[4]

While Guy is originally from London and is an only child, a lot of his family live further afield. “Half of my family live in Italy and some also live in Israel. I am an only child but my Mum has got a sister and 5 brothers. And my gran who lives in Rome has 10 sisters!”^[5]

He has said he is uncomfortable with public attention “I remember when I was younger being outside the Royal Albert Hall, when all the people were arriving for the National TV Awards and I remember saying to my mum, ‘Look how lucky they are! I want to be one of those people.’ But now I want to be incognito. I’m not that much of a showman. I shy away from any attention I get. It’s ironic how things work out.”^[6]

In March 2007 Guy appeared with Marcus Patric on ITV 1's Super Chef. The programme revealed that Guy and his father were opening a Japanese-Thai fusion restaurant in Soho in April 2007.^[7]

The following month Guy, together with Anthony Quinlan and Jennifer Metcalfe, appeared on the ITV2 show 'Grease Is The Word'. The version of Grease. Guy played Danny and Jennifer was Sandy.^[8]

In June 2007 he helped judge the Miss England Beauty Competition and was also one of the judges in 2006. ^[9]

When asked in May 2007 if he was single he told Edith Bowman on Radio 1 that he was "just having fun". He continues to play football and played in a celebrity football match on 2 June 2007 at the new Wembley Stadium prior to England's first match at the stadium. In September 2007 he played for England in an England v Russia charity match in support of the Give Life Foundation.^[10]

Guy Burnet in The Voyeur

As well as playing football Guy is involved in amateur boxing. He also writes and directs short films and his interest in boxing led him to direct a documentary on WBU featherweight title holder Derry Matthews. ^[11]

On 3 August 2007 Hollyoaks Producer Bryan Kirkwood confirmed on Digital Spy that Guy was quitting Hollyoaks. He said "I am genuinely gutted that Guy is leaving the show, but after five years he feels the time is right. He's an amazing actor and has really come into his own through his work on the Craig and John Paul storyline - and has helped turn it into one of Hollyoaks' biggest ever storylines."

"We've left the door open for him to return and I wish him the very best of luck for whatever he does next." ^[12]

In an interview with Digital Spy, Guy said that leaving Hollyoaks was a very hard decision, but it was time for him to try new things. He also said that his best friends from the show are Carley Stenson, Nick Pickard, and James McKenna.^[13]

He still keeps in touch with his former co-stars Loui Batley.^[14]

[edit] On his role in Hollyoaks

Main article: Craig Dean

Craig and John Paul

In an interview with Attitude Magazine he discussed how the Craig Dean/John Paul McQueen storyline was brought to his attention.

"They sold the whole storyline to me by getting me really drunk one night,” laughs Guy meanwhile, in the none-too-glamorous press office just off the Hollyoaks set, which he’s known for the last four years since he first started on the show as a 15-year-old wheeler dealer: a sort of baby Del Boy. “At first I was slightly hesitant because I wanted to justify – to myself and the audience – that this straight character could have gay tendencies. That was the main challenge and it was the idea of a challenge that made me want to do it.”

It was important to Guy that the storyline should not be stereotypical.

“I would have been absolutely devastated if it had become a cliché,” He found the character's lack of commitment particularly interesting to play. “One week the audience is going to love me because I love John Paul and the next they’re going to hate me because I’m beating him up. The gay community love me then hate me. I’m in a lose-lose situation. And I’ll never get accolades for it because he’s not a sympathetic character. With John Paul, you’re just going to love him.”

When asked how it feels, not playing the one everyone’s going to love, Guy says, when it comes to acting at least, he’s happy to take a step back.

“You’ll never see my ego take over,” he says. “In the scene where James comes out to me and tells me that he loves me, I noticed reading the script that I had a lot of lines. They were big scenes. But once we rehearsed them and played them out, I realised it wasn’t about me. It was about him coming out. The way James played it, it was so emotional that I decided to cut my lines and just play it on reaction. Maybe I prefer being the bridesmaid but then hopefully people will realise the bridesmaid is needed in order to balance a scene”

[edit] After Hollyoaks

In an interview with Out North West ^[15] Guy discussed how he was eager to spread his wings as an actor after five years on the show and maybe do some short-term TV work. However, he did not rule out returning to Hollyoaks in the future. It was announced on 9th June 2008 that he will be reprising the role from September 2008^[16].

Guy recently appeared in the Christie Comedy Series, due for release in 2008 ^[17]