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He's 6'2" and gorgeous, but what you notice first about Stephen Billington, is the voice: gentle, smooth, soothing, a very wonderfully English, voice. It's hard to believe that as a child, that voice, was the reason other English children beat him up.
'Most of my youth had been spent in South Africa, so I spoke with an accent. As soon as I went to school here I stood out from the crowd, and that meant I got beaten up until I learnt to speak like everybody else.' (28 September 1998, Woman's Own)'The bullying was horrible, both physically and mentally, and I was forced to adapt very quickly.' (28 September 1998, Woman's Own)
Stephen had been born in Bolton, Lancashire, England. But at the tender age of three, Stephen, his mother, Diana, father, Derek, and sister, Nicola, had moved from Bolton, to South Africa.
'My mum and dad quite bravely and naively upped and left without jobs or anything, with me and my sister who was 18 months old at the time.' It was a kind of mad thing to do, really, with two toddlers.'
(4 July 1998, Scotland Weekly)
'Then with apartheid still in position and an increase in violence, they got out when I was 12.' (4 July 1998, Scotland Weekly)
Family is very important to Stephen. And perhaps living in foreign country, caught up in turmoil, contributed to the closeness to his family.
'We are a very close family, my parents, my sister and I. They are my bit of reality and if I have something stressful happen I can just pick up the phone and they are there for me because they love me unequivocally and always will. They are my security.' (Coronation Street, Issue 54)'Nicky is two years younger than me and I've always loved her desperately. My sister is a bit of a live wire--she's funny, bright and she loves having a good time.' (News of the World SUNDAY, 14 June 1998)
After graduating from a college course in hotel and catering, at the age of 19 Stephen became a trainee manager at the Connaught Hotel in Mayfair. He was 'discovered' by a modeling agency while waiting tables. But Stephen and modeling, didn't really get on.
'I was skinnier than most models. "The most embarrassing thing for me was to be asked to audition for swim wear shoots. But because I was a swimmer, they would think I was ideal. I would beg my agency not to send me as I knew I'd have to strip off. I'd have to stand next to these huge, muscle-bound blokes--and I never used to get the job.'
(News of the World SUNDAY, 14 June 1998)
'It was so superficial, I once heard a photographer refer to me as puppy meat.' (News of the World SUNDAY, 14 June 1998) Acting on the other hand, had always appealed to Stephen.
'I'd always fancied acting and assumed it would be impossible. But then at the hotel I met great actors like Alec Guinness and seeing them made me realise they were ordinary people just like me.' (EVA, 2 September 1998)But in the beginning, his parents weren't too pleased with his choice of acting as a career:
'They'd had such high hopes for me. I think they saw us getting a family hotel one day.'
( OK!, 13 June 1997, Issue 63)
'All they knew about the acting profession was that there was 90 percent unemployment, and they were worried about that.' (Plays and Players, June 1997)
Stephen's father put it this way:
'I went ballistic. We thought his career was more or less sorted. Now he wanted to give it all up.' (The Argus, 3 June 1999)Everything eventually, sorted itself out. But first there was three years at Drama Centre, London. Then Stephen landed roles in two BBC productions, Space Precinct, and The Buccaneers. There was a part in Mel Gibson's blockbuster film Braveheart. Then two more BBC productions, Out of the Blue and Jonathan Creek, and then Stephen was picked as Jilly Cooper's Lysander, in The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous.
'During filming I persuaded my parents to come on the set and got them parts as extras in a restaurant scene. Since then, my dad's really got into acting and joined the local amdram group!' (Plays and Players, June 1997)Stephen is a dedicated actor. Image as a star has never been important to him.
'Being seen as a sex symbol is embarrassing and funny. It is not an image I have ever courted.' (15-21 May 1998, The TV Mag)Work is usually fun for Stephen. And he particularly enjoys playing the villain.'I've never cultivated an image as a "hunk", despite my roles in Jilly Cooper's The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous and as Greg Kelly in Coronation Street, but you get cast according to how you look and there is no getting away from that. It's neither here nor there for me, so long as people enjoy my performances.' (This is London, 20 October 1999)
'It was great to play a leading role, but it's not size that counts, a good cameo could be just as juicy," he says. "I'm not just looking for fame: being recognised in the street isn't something I particularly relish. My aim isn't to be a star - my aim is to be a good actor.' (Plays and Players, June 1997)
'I think it's great that I'm being built up as this evil man--show me an actor who doesn't like playing the villain! You're not allowed to act like a git in real life because there are too many social constraints on you. So it's nice to play someone who behaves like he does and doesn't care who gets hurt.' (Best, 11 May 1999)
'Everyone knows it far more fun to play a villain and every actor you ever speak to will say that.' (SOAP SECRETS,12 May 1999)
'We all have the propensity to do things that are not socially acceptable, all the way from murder right down to swearing. As an actor, you get the chance to play those roles as a release - you don't actually do the things but you get it as a release. I enjoy playing villains for that reason, it obviously taps into something in my inner psyche. I couldn't make Greg any more pure evil than I could make Judas.' (NEWS.BBC.CO.UK)
'It may sound strange but we really enjoy acting out those disturbing scenes and both felt it was the best work we'd done together. You get a great buzz from acting in really energetic and demanding scenes--but we can joke about them when the cameras stop rolling.' (Woman, 17 May 1999)
Stephen's versatile.
'I love theatre as well. The thing I like about acting is the variety you get. Every job is so different.' (NOW, 24 September 1998, Special Issue)Stephen thinks he is lazy.'I find it exciting to get up on stage every night, but I like filming as well, for different reasons: I find it more relaxed. I like to do a bit of everything.' (Plays and Players, June 1997)
'I'd like to be better built and not so skinny. But I'm lazy when it comes to exercise and the gym bores me to tears. I'm lucky that I don't pile the weight on but I would like to be more defined. I doubt it will happen though. I'm just too lazy to do anything about it.' (EVA, 2 September 1998)
But if there is one thing Stephen is not, it is a slacker. In ten short years, he has done 10 movies, 11 plays, 1 mini-series, 1 soap opera and appeared on 6 television shows. He has been an android, a prince's lover, a lieutenant, a policeman, a tennis player, a salesman, an immortal, a cowboy, a thief, a vampire, a writer and a hoodlum. What will he be next? Hard to say. But without a doubt, he will enjoy it and so will we!
So how does Stephen describe himself?
'I'm nothing special. I think I'm a sincere, honest, and caring person but I suppose that makes me quite boring too.' (The Street Family Newsletter, Issue 53 and 54)
And that, is the most ironic thing of all. Stephen is brilliant. And everybody knows it, everybody that is, except Stephen.
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