EastEnders star Clay Milner Russell is best known for playing Bobby Beale on the BBC soap.
The 24-year-old actor took over the role from Eliot Carrington in 2019 and became the fifth actor to play the character. Bobby was reintroduced four years ago after being released from prison from murdering his half-sister, Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) in 2014.
In recent weeks, Bobby has been struggling with the return of Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) who won’t accept him after he killed her daughter. During Thursday’s episode (September 21), all hell breaks loose as Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) tries to convince Cindy to let Bobby move back to home.
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Giving Cindy an ultimatum, Ian demanded she must accept Bobby or their relationship is over. As Bobby remains at the centre of the drama, Daily Star has looked into Clay’s life away from the soap.
Real name
(Image: Alpha Press)
Clay’s full name is in fact Barnaby Clay Milner Russell, but it seems he’s dropped his first name while acting. The star was brought up in Tower Hamlets, London and is relatively private about his life, opting to remain off social media.
His career kicked off years before he joined the cast of EastEnders, with his first on-screen appearance coming in 2013.
Career
(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
Clay’s first role was in the short film The Parachutist which followed the journey of a man who claimed to be a German pilot from the Second World War. Three years later, he starred in another short film titled Graffiti.
He played the role of Archie, a character who struggles to cope with the death of his father and uses the art of graffiti to reconnect with his mother. In 2019, the same year he landed the role of Bobby, Clay starred as Bailey in the film County Lines.
Co-star bond
(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
On-screen, Bobby’s best friend is Freddie Slater, played by Bobby Brazier. The 20-year-old joined made his first appearance in September 2022 and the two have struck up a sweet bromance both on and away from the BBC soap.
Speaking to The Metro, Bobby gushed: “It’s [the bromance] my second favourite thing about working at EastEnders”. To which a baffled Clay questioned: “Second?”
Bobby responded: “Yeah. I’m a Slater! I love that so much.” The actor explained that Clay is always making him laugh on set, making emotional scenes fairly difficult.
(Image: David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)
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He added: “I just want to say, it’s great working with him but it’s very difficult at the same time because sometimes we’ll be doing serious scenes and he’s the funniest person I think I’ve ever met.
“He’ll do something that’s so subtly funny that just has me in bits and its game over. We try and recoup, I’m new to this whole acting thing so I’m trying to get emotional again, but I can’t stop laughing!”
Clay admitted that playing their soap roles “doesn’t feel like acting” due to the close bond they share in real life.
EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at 7.30pm
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
