Hollyoaks star reveals his vulnerable side in The Bodyguard

As Frank Farmer, a role made famous by Kevin Costner in the hit movie The Bodyguard, his role is to protect a singing superstar - played by former Pussycat Doll, Melody Thornton - from an obsessed stalker.

The Bodyguard, the Musical is currently at Manchester’s Palace Theatre and former Hollyoaks and Emmerdale star Ayden is relishing the challenge of demonstrating that bodyguards have feelings too.

“When you look at Frank, he’s the best in the business,” said Ayden. “He’s cool, collected and tough. He’s almost verging on being a kind of superman but there’s a danger he could come across as stiff or even being a caricature.

“To me, the interesting part of this role has been finding out what his frailties are. If you watch the guy and think that he can take care of everything, then there’s no jeopardy.

“We need to know that he is human, that he has his own struggles, the compromises he faces.”

It won’t be giving too much away to reveal that the bodyguard finds himself emotionally involved with the women he’s been hired to protect.

“There’s this wonderful battle between what he’s feeling in his heart and what he knows he must do,” said Ayden. “In rehearsals I pushed this as far as I could to see where it took me, to find things that made sense about him. Once you’ve done that you have to pull back a bit because what you can’t have is an over emotional bodyguard as he wouldn’t be any good at his job!

“But what I wanted to show was that Frank isn’t a robot. He’s a man with a great depth of feeling but in his line of work all that needs to be put in a box and locked away. Unfortunately for him, this woman, Rachel Marron, finds the key.”

The Bodyguard features some stunning musical numbers, originally performed by Whitney Houston, including Queen of the Night and the iconic I Will Always Love You.

“I sometimes hear The Bodyguard as being described as a jukebox musical, and on the surface I sort of get why you might say that,” said Ayden. “But it certainly isn’t. I’d describe it as a play with a fabulous soundtrack. We never get to see what the audience sees but I know that it is quite a spectacle, but it also very impactful.

“There are all these great elements - it’s got tension and a very strong narrative as well as a superb soundtrack. Then there’s plenty of humour, it has got scares in there and obviously you have got a love story.

“The challenge for us as actors is to create real human beings which audiences can connect with. It’s not just about telling a story and hearing great songs. If we get it right, they have a richer, more rounded experience.”

As The Bodyguard tours the country, the indications are that all those involved in the show have most definitely got it right.

“I’m not a musical theatre performer,” said Ayden, “I’m an actor and before we started the tour I was told that musical theatre audiences were different. I have to say the audiences have been pretty wild everywhere we have been; you can tell that they have really got into it.

“To get that feedback in the moment is wonderful.When you work on TV or film you don’t get that immediate response, it can be weeks or even months before a programme you have worked on gets aired and by then you have probably moved on and are involved in something else.”

Ayden will probably be best known for playing Myles De Souza in Emmerdale - his first TV role - and Joe Roscoe in Hollyoaks.

“This is the first musical I’ve done and I’m loving the experience,” he said.

One reason he’s enjoying life in The Bodyguard is working with Melody Thornton.

“She’s such a talented and generous performer,” he said. “Everyone knows she’s a wonderful singer but she’s also a natural actress. You always hope that you can create the right kind of chemistry on stage and for us that just sort of landed during rehearsals. We had a similar approach to things and it all came quite comfortably.”

A bonus of playing Frank Farmer, Ayden gets to watch and listen to her perform the shows famous musical numbers.

“That’s like having a free concert every night,” he laughed. “But the songs are also part of the narrative for the show, they are part of the character’s dialogue.

“Theatre should be an elevating experience and be as involving as possible. That’s what makes it just the most wonderful art form and in this show there are so many different elements which draw the audience in.”

The Bodyguard experience has clearly made an impression on Ayden so does he see himself getting involved in other musical productions down the road (he’ll be touring with The Bodyguard until at least the end of September)?

“I’m never going to be able to play Jean Valjean in Les Mis that’s for sure,” he laughed. “I don’t have the pipes for it and I can’t dance so I can’t be Tony in Saturday Night Fever. Doing a musical is something I thought I’d never do, that I’d never have the opportunity to do and it’s been lovely to be part of that.

“So if the right role came along and I had the requisite skills who knows? You never say never.”

The Bodyguard, the Musical, is at the Palace Theatre, Manchester until Saturday, April 15. Details from www.atgtickets.com