It’s been over a decade since Hollyoaks favourite Rhys Ashworth met his demise and, if we’re being really honest, we’re still not over it.
The popular character was a key player throughout the noughties, a pivotal time for the Channel 4 soap, having been introduced as part of the now iconic Ashworth clan.
He had relationships with stalwarts Cindy Cunningham and Jacqui McQueen and would feature in many an iconic moment, before ultimately meeting a grisly end as part of a huge stunt week in 2012.
Over a decade on and Hollyoaks has brought back the Ashworths, with Suzanne (Suzanne Hall) having staged a return at the beginning of the year, not to mention the iconic Hannah (Emma Rigby) dropping in for a number of visits too.
Frankie and JJ Osborne, Rhys’ younger siblings, are also at the centre of a powerful sibling sexual abuse story, which is undoubtedly one of Hollyoaks’ most powerful to date.
It really is a resurgence for the Ashworths and their surrounding family.
‘If I hadn’t been chopped in half by a bus or whatever it was I’m sure I’d have gone back there by now!,’ laughed Rhys star Andy Moss in an exclusive chat with Metro.co.uk.
‘If not just to see Suzanne and Hannah.’
Andy, 40, had nothing but good things to say about his time on Hollyoaks as we discussed his time on the show and he even admitted that he still gets recognised by fans as Rhys. He was also quick to praise co-star Suzanne, who played his on-screen mum.
‘[Hollyoaks] was my second big job and I wasn’t used to the speed of it and how fast it moves and Suzanne really took me under her wing’, he said. ‘All her tips to me and stuff like that, she’d help me run my lines in the mornings.
‘I’m so pleased for her. What they do in soap is they regenerate, they get a strong mum and build the family round that so the fact that she’s getting a second crack at it, I’m made up for her.’
Despite Suzanne and Emma’s recent comebacks, however, Andy remains satisfied with how Rhys’ story came to an end, particularly because it afforded him the chance to explore other acting opportunities.
‘In a way I’m glad [he was killed off] because I could have stayed at Hollyoaks happily for another 10 years,’ he revealed. ‘But I don’t think I would have grown as a person or as an actor.
‘As soon as that finished I went straight to London, met a whole load of new friends. I discovered different things about myself that I didn’t know but were always there. For me it closed off one chapter of my life.
‘I’m glad it finished how it did so I could come to London and explore the next chapter of my life, doing things like Ghost the musical. I always wanted to do a musical. I’ve done three or four now and I love it, it’s a totally different discipline.
‘For the first 15 years of my career I was just doing TV and I was always hankering to do these different things so once that chapter was closed, this one opened and I’ve done so many different things since.’
Andy’s next project is a role he couldn’t be more passionate about, playing the titular character in Frank’s Closet at Wilton’s Music Hall in London.
‘Frank’s Closet a tricky one to explain,’ he said with a laugh when I asked to sum up the play. ‘The best way I can describe it is it’s a queer love story. Alan has asked Frank [played by Andy] to marry him, Frank has agreed, they’ve been together for years and it all looks like it’s straightforward. Then Frank starts to get cold feet as the wedding gets closer and closer – commitment, matrimony.
‘The audience gets to see inside Frank’s closet while he’s clearing out his stuff to kind of make room for his new life as a married man.
‘In the closet it’s not all as it seems, it’s quite a fantasy world and he’s visited by divas of the past who give him advice or comfort or just encouragement to get on with his life and become a happily married man.
‘It doesn’t quite turn out as we think and the supporting cast, the Gaiety Girls, are like the angels and the devils on his shoulder and it spins off into this magical fantasy world. Nothing’s too serious, nothing’s too deep, it’s all tongue-in-cheek, it’s razor sharp dialogue, beautiful songs and a really ace piece.
‘Each diva is pretty much, to a certain audience, easily recognisable and their songs are in the style of that diva. So you already kind of think you know the song but Stuart Wood, our writer, is a genius and you would think it belongs in their back catalogue.’
Andy, who also starred as Paul Cuthbert in Doctors, branded the play ‘a character journey’, though added that it’s not what the audience might expect.
‘With a queer story sometimes it’s about the past and the turmoil,’ he said. ‘There are moments of that, there are sad moments, but we kind of keep it light, keep it going forward.
‘Frank’s journey from start to finish is massive. You get to see every stage of his life and the reason he doesn’t want to get married. There’s will they/won’t they, a lot of jeopardy in it as well. By the end the audience get to know Frank very, very well.’
The former soap star is a fan of projects which allow both he and the audience to get to know a character in depth.
‘I’ve done bit parts, I’ve done character parts. But for me I just love bringing a character to life. I didn’t know anything about Frank’s Closet before I got the script. I read the script and loved the lines and I was like, “I could do this.”
‘What I needed to do was check with the director that we were on the same page, because with a musical you just think it’s going to be ‘Lalala’ for the whole thing. I was adamant that I wanted to do it so small, when I talk to the audience I talk to them like this.
‘I think it works so well against the backdrop of the craziness and the campness and the extravagance of the rest, to have these tiny moments.’
Andy credited his time on Hollyoaks with helping him in becoming equipped with the skills needed when doing a play such as Frank’s Closet.
The Channel 4 soap, which remains a staple of UK TV, is set to undergo a huge change in September, dropping two of its weekly episodes to better reflect how people consume telly in today’s day and age, a move which Andy reckons is a good one.
‘It costs how many hundreds of thousands to make a few episodes of a soap, there’s just not that budget there any more because people choose to watch it whenever they want,’ he said. ‘I know they’ve shortened episodes now and stuff like that. It’s definitely evolving and it’s definitely changing but I really think it should go back to issue-based and a reflection of society,’ he added, believing soaps to be more ‘sensationalised’ these days.
‘I used to love telling those stories and hearing the feedback and the connection from the people who used to watch them.’
‘I think especially for our show at that time, we were hitting on these massive issues in society. We were one of the first ones to have a transgender storyline, or Hannah’s eating disorder which was quite a big one. What counts as consent. Big storylines that really did educate.’
Frank’s Closet runs from Tuesday September 3 to Saturday September 14 at Wilton’s Music Hall, Graces Alley, London. For more information and how to book tickets, click here.
