Emmerdale star James Sutton on life in Shropshire

Emmerdale star James Sutton had too much energy to burn, writes Andy Richardson.

His mother, Jeanette, put him on the path to a life on the stage.

As a boy growing up in the village of Haughton, in Staffordshire, Emmerdale star James Sutton had too much energy to burn.

Jeanette didn't know what to do with James, nor did his teachers at King Edward WI School, in Stafford. So, at the age of eight, she packed him off to the Stafford Gatehouse, where he attended a summer school in drama.

"We did a production of Bugsy Malone," says James. "I loved it. I was only in the chorus in that one, but something just connected. After that, I went back each year. I was the Pirate King in the Pirates of Penzance. I had a good role in Guys and Dolls."

The Gatehouse couldn't get rid of him.

When his family moved to Shropshire, at the age of 14, he continued to act. James quickly settled into Sambrook, near Newport and made another important connection at the Burton Borough School.

"I had a teacher in Newport, called Emma Hennessy, who took me for English. We didn't have a drama GCSE but she knew that that was what I wanted to do, so she created one for me."

So, for two or three lunchtimes every week, Miss Hennessy would tutor James in drama.

"I was enormously grateful," says James. "That meant I got my first taste of drama. Miss Hennessy was really important to me. I had someone who recognised my potential, she understood that drama was what I wanted to do, it wasn't just a pipedream."

James went back to Staffordshire to study at Stafford College. He signed up for a performing arts course and, during his late teens, shuttled back and forth between Newport and Stafford every day. A good set of results earned him a place at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff and upon leaving, James launched himself into the world of professional drama.

Almost instantly, he found work. The Dream Team spin-off, Dream Team 80s, employed him as Terry Glover while he also played Barry Milne in Lynda La Plante's Trial and Retribution.

Then, in September 2006, he got his lucky break. Hollyoaks cast him as John Paul McQueen, a character who came out as being gay and started an affair with his brest friend, Craig Dean.

The storyline showcased James' talent and earned him numerous awards and nominations. In 2007, James was nominated for Sexiest Male, Best Actor and Best Dramatic Performance in the British Soap Awards. Inside Soap Awards also nominated him for Best Actor and Sexiest Male, as well as Best Storyline, while the National Television Awards shortlisted him for Most Popular Actor.

James says: "Things took off pretty quickly, but the point is that I worked extraordinarily hard. I really put the hard work into my role."

Sutton remained part of the Hollyoaks cast until 2008, after which he switched to Casualty before starting a two-year run in Emmerdale in 2009, with his last episode being screened in April this year.

James says: "I've been incredibly fortunate. When you work on soaps, it's either sink or swim. It's not like working in theatre, when you have the opportunity to rehearse. In soap operas, you have to learn your lines and then act.

"There is no time. It's an amazing skill to learn. Once you can do soap you're ready to do pretty much anything, it's an incredible medium. I think there used to be a bit of snobbery around soap, with people looking down on it, but I don't think that's the case anymore. The quality of acting in soaps is extremely high."

But James' ambitions extend beyond soaps. After leaving Emmerdale, he signed up to work with the BBC Learning project Off By Heart Shakespeare, taking the role of Orsino from Twelfth Night and delivering the speech 'If music be the food of love, play on'.

James adds: "When you come out of drama school you have this romantic notion that you want to do amazing theatre and stick to that.

"I always wanted to do theatre but then I got offered Hollyoaks and Emmerdale and I enjoyed those enormously because they taught me so much.

"I didn't really have any interest in acting to become famous, so I accept it that people recognise me but that's not what I do it for.

"Sometimes, when people recognise you it can make you feel quite insecure and it can be intimidating, but it goes with the job so you just go with it."

James presently lives in Liverpool, works in Manchester and London, and will be in Shropshire over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

"I love coming back to the Midlands," he says. "My life is pretty fast-paced at the moment, and when I come back to my home counties I just feel so much more relaxed. It's a wonderful sensation. A lot of people don't realise just how beautiful those counties are."