EastEnders' Matthew Rose actor's life now after character was wrongly jailed

02 August 2023 , 09:39

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EastEnders' Matthew Rose actor's life now after character was wrongly jailed

EastEnders' Matthew Rose made actor Joe Absolom a household name after the character was wrongly sent to prison.

Matthew was framed for Saskia Duncan's murder after her boyfriend, Steve Owen, played by Martin Kemp, hit her over the head with an ashtray. The storyline captivated public interest with several newspapers starting nationwide campaigns for the character's release.

Joe, now 44, left EastEnders in 2000, going on to carve out a successful acting career, appearing in British horror film Long Time Dead, and a supporting role in the ITV series Vincent. But it was his role as Bert Large's son, Al, in Doc Martin, in which he felt most at home.

EastEnders' Matthew Rose made actor Joe Absolom a household name after the character was wrongly sent to prison (BBC)

The actor has lived in Cornwall for 14 years after moving there with his wife, Liz and their children Lyla, Casper and Daisy while filming the show. Joe, who played plumber-turned-restaurateur Al in the ITV comedy-drama series since it started 18 years ago, took the decision to quit his native London when his eldest daughter, Lyla, was five.

Speaking to The Mirror, he said: "I remember sitting on the beach in Cornwall with [Lyla] on a day off from filming. She was asking where the tide had gone. I made up some sort of hare-brained father’s explanation. We drove back to London the next day and unfortunately a teenager had just been murdered outside our local supermarket."

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The final straw came in 2013 when the family’s South London home was burgled by a gang of teenagers while Joe was away filming in Romania and his wife was at home with their two eldest children. The next year the family moved to Cornwall, where Doc Martin was filmed in Port Isaac. Speaking about the his children's transition down south, Joe said: "My children’s lives are in Cornwall now. Daisy was born here – she’s got clotted cream in the blood."

Joe moved to Cornwall 14 years ago (Getty Images)

In October 2022, the actor appeared in a stage version of the Shawshank Redemption (Getty Images)

In October last year, the actor played prisoner Andy Dufresne in a stage version of 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption. Opening up about his first night nerves, he said: "I fumbled my lines, because I had this little devil on my shoulder saying, 'You don’t know this bit'. I kept thinking, 'Why have I done this?' We start the play naked with just our belongings to hide our modesty; nerves do a strange thing to the body!"

Joe had to learn 120 pages of script for the play, which was a real contrast to Doc Martin. Speaking about his role on the much-loved show, which starred Martin Clunes in the titular role, he said modestly: "That’s really easy, I usually stand at the back and say, 'The fun run starts at 11, Doc!' or, 'Oh, come on, Doc!'"

Victoria Johns