Actor Michael Wildman is best known for playing the role of village bad guy Al Chapman in ITV 's Emmerdale. He joined the village in 2019 and was introduced as the estranged father of Ellis Chapman and the former husband of Jessie Dingle.
Dubbed the village love rat, Al Chapman, has been ruining marriages, having affairs and causing trouble since he arrived. And tonight the soap villain's ongoing feud with enemy Cain Dingle is set to get out of control, resulting in a horrifying car crash.
Prior to his current role in the soap, Wildman appeared in the film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where he played the role of aggressive, feisty centaur Magorian.
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The Hollywood movie star has also had roles in The Bourne Ultimatum, London has Fallen, Ready Player One and the Fast & Furious spin-off movie Hobbs & Shaw.
Michael has said that filming the upcoming scenes reminded him of his blockbuster movie days as he jumped at the chance to film the car chase through Yorkshire’s country lanes.
In an interview with our colleagues at The Mirror, Michael said: “Making films is what I love doing, but I am also really enjoying playing Al and this week’s super stunt week has been so much fun to do.
“It’s filmed in a cinematic way and I got to do my own driving sequence stunts, which I loved. It’s great getting into a car and putting my foot down.”
Michael has worked alongside some of Hollywood's most highly regarded stars, including Burt Reynolds and Steven Spielberg.
He was in Spielberg’s 2018 sci-fi hit Ready Player One, worked with Gerard Butler in the 2016 thriller London Has Fallen, and also starred in Episode 5 of the British sitcom Extras alongside Samuel L. Jackson and in the part of the first Marc MacKenzie in Family Affairs.
The 47-year-old actor said: "I’ve actually started to write a journal about some of the stories that happened on the film sets. Once you do a job, it’s quite easy to move on and forget, but arguably it doesn’t get bigger than working with someone like Burt Reynolds.”
“We were worlds apart, but he was very complimentary and I learned a lot from Burt. I can remember him telling me to keep on going. ‘Mike,’ he told me, ‘don’t ever let the b*****ds grind you down’. It was such a beautiful moment of support that I really appreciated.”
Recalling his time working with Steven Spielberg, Michael laughed: "I had been offered the part of a character by Steven but, when I arrived, it hadn’t been written up, so he gave me bits of A4 paper with lines to learn every day.
“At the end of the shoot, Steven shook my hand and told me, ‘I really want to apologise for putting you on the spot. I kept on throwing stuff at you’. I laughed and replied, ‘What am I going to do? Turn down extra lines from Steven Spielberg? No way’.”
Speaking of what lies ahead for Al, Michael added: “We will have to wait and see what happens to Al tonight, but hopefully if he does survive, I can look forward to Emmerdale’s 50th anniversary later this year.”
Emmerdale is on ITV weekdays, 7.30pm to 8pm. Tonight’s is an hour-long episode.
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