Darcy Grey grew up in what he calls a "Dr Dolittle" world, with 12 cats, five dogs, chickens, sheep and horses, and as a child wanted to be a vet, never dreaming he would end up an actor with a starring role in Emmerdale.
But it was "a long, hard graft" to his first ever TV role, which Darcy has finally landed at the age of 30 after twice trying his luck in LA, before returning to Britain, where he was just starting to get theatre work when the pandemic struck.
As his acting career ground to a shuddering halt, he spent 18 months selling dog food to get by.
He says: "It has been a long hard graft to get to this point, and when Covid hit, it was a total wipeout. There were moments where I wondered whether the acting work would ever come back.
"I managed to get a job selling posh dog food at the weekends, which was a saving grace. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t."
But it made him appreciate being offered the chance to be part of the ITV soap even more.
Darcy says: "It was very much the case of keep on going, and just not giving in when I was attending the auditions. So now that I am actually in Emmerdale, it really is a pinch me moment."
But, he does not expect Emmerdale fans to welcome him with open arms when he turns up in the village next week as Marcus Dean, the son of Pierce Harris (Jonathan Wrather), who is in jail after raping Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) in 2017, hours after their wedding.
Marcus has discovered Pierce is dying in prison and turns up in the village to find out more about his dad from Rhona, who is now in a relationship with Marlon Dingle.
He says: "Marcus arrives in the village looking for answers. His life has been turned upside down and he hates his dad so much.
"He knows Rhona was raped by his dad and that’s why he went to jail, but he wants to find out more. For Rhona, though, it is a dark and very upsetting time when Marcus turns up out of the blue.
"He is the last person she wants to see. If people weren’t on Rhona’s side, I would be very surprised."
He pauses, smiles, and then admits: "Playing Marcus is a dream come true role for me."
Hinting romance could also be on the cards for his character, he says he can relate to the fact Marcus feels like an outsider when he arrives.
For Darcy also knows what it feels like to lack roots.
Soon after he was born, he went to live in Ibiza with his mum.
Describing his childhood as a "Dr Dolittle kind of existence", Darcy, who also has three brothers, moved to Scotland when he was eight, returning months later to live in mainland Spain.
He says: "Mum loved renovating properties and she would renovate one ramshackle building and then move on to another.
"She also works with horses, which was another reason why we moved to Spain. It was a proper adventure and it was a bit of a Dr Dolittle situation as we had 12 cats, five dogs, chickens, sheep and horses.
"In fact, when I was a child, I wanted to be a vet rather than an actor."
At 13, Darcy returned to England and after his A-levels, landed a job as a runner at a film post-production company to gain experience in the industry.
He then went to the US to work in Los Angeles, but soon realised the importance of drama school and returned to Britain at the age of 26 to train. He then went back to America a year or so later before finally settling in Britain again.
But he confesses he absolutely loves the States.
He says: "Everything is exciting, bigger and the possibilities are wider. I auditioned a lot for roles out in LA as the 'British best friend', but I soon began to realise that I had to come back for my career."
Slowly gaining experience in theatre, the pandemic then hit.
He says: "You have to be stubborn if you want to be an actor. Of course, there were times when it hurt, but now I’ve got a role in Emmerdale, I’ve realised all those no’s weren’t for nothing."
So is Darcy ready for fame? And how does he feel about being dubbed the new Emmerdale hunk?
He jokes: "A lifelong dream is unlocked finally.
"To be honest, it still isn’t computing and it doesn’t feel real."
He admits he would love to work in the States one day, but for now is excited about where Emmerdale will take him.
He says: "A lot of my imagination as to what I will be doing is stuck in LA. To close that book, I will have to eventually go out there one day.
"But it is also exciting to be in Emmerdale and to see which path my character takes. I really do hope Marcus will cause havoc though.
"Havoc is exciting."
* Emmerdale is on every weekday at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode on Thursdays at 8pm.
