Parry Glasspool has blasted 'Hollyoaks' for casting AJ and Curtis Pritchard in the soap.
Parry Glasspool
The 29-year-old star played Harry Thompson in the Channel 4 show from 2013 until the character was killed off in 2019, and he has insisted seeing the pro dancer brothers - who have joined the soap as siblings Marco and Jacob - in the programme "sucks" for budding actors who are "trying to catch a break".
He wrote on his Instagram Stories: "As if budding actors didn't struggle enough, now they have to compete with folks with zero interest in acting, but have s*** tone of followers.
"No offence for those who can hustle, but sucks for those trying to catch a break."
Parry also shared part of a Grazia article - penned anonymously - which slates Curtis as "agonising to watch" in the soap.
It reads: "To be clear, I have no problem with people using reality TV to accelerate a career in which they’ve trained or shown interest in. However, Curtis was agonising to watch. Not only because his performance was so bad, but the pain of knowing that anyone else landing a part on a successful soap takes training, previous credits, a load of castings and auditions before you are even considered for a role. In this day and age, it is probably easier to jet off to Majorca and go on Love Island than to be in with a chance of securing acting jobs.
"Made in Chelsea, TOWIE and Love Island dominate our screens. They're not going anywhere soon, and, being honest, these shows are my guilty pleasure. And while these programmes might be scripted to an extent, I think that audiences tend to forget that reality TV is a totally different genre and dynamic to actual ACTING. My annoyance isn’t that reality stars are making careers for themselves - good for them, we are all hustling! - but it’s the fact some of these stars are thrust into jobs or roles that they would never have previously been considered for unless it was for their new found fame and name. When young actors look on after countless rejections to see the part they went for has been snatched up by someone who ‘wants to be the kind of guy that makes everyone coffee in the morning’, it’s enough to make you want to give up."
Last week, former 'EastEnders' actor Michael Greco slammed AJ and Curtis' "shocking" acting on 'Hollyoaks', and he claimed people could learn "how not to act" from watching a video of the brothers on the Channel 4 soap.
The clip was shared by former 'Oaks' star Gerard McCarthy, and Michael wrote: "I think people can watch this and learn so much from it. How “not” to act. Shocking (sic)"
Gerard - who played Kris Fisher in the Channel 4 soap from 2006 to 2010 - also hit out at the AJ and Curtis scene, describing it as a "car crash".
He tweeted: "The next time a producer/casting director says the words “but they have a big social media following”…. Just point them in the direction of this absolute car crash!
"It’s a simple idea: stop giving actors’ jobs to models / reality tv contestants / pop stars from 1995 / Crufts winners / anybody else who is not an actor.
"THEY WILL BE S****! (sic)"
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