Hollyoaks Ro star Leo Cole: ‘After coming out as trans at 12, I’ve thrived and landed my dream role’

Ro Hutchinson’s exploration of gender is something that many in the UK can relate to, not least of all new Hollyoaks star, 17-year-old Leo Cole, who has taken over the character from Ava Webster.

Ava previously played the character through episodes that saw Ro come out as a transgender male, not to mention a deeply impactful special, which saw him seek help at his lowest point when he contemplated suicide after horrific bullying.

Having also come out as 12, Leo caught up with the storyline when he landed his dream role – his first TV part – on the show, and was blown away by the representation of a transgender character that the soap has done well.

And it’s something he told me that reflected much of his own journey after coming out at the age of 12.

While Leo too had a difficult time in school, with the support of a loving family, he has gone on to thrive, epitomised by his achievement at Hollyoaks.

But not only that, he is an exceptional interviewee, with very mature insights into the importance of representation in the most eloquent and passionate ways.

I sat down for a much-needed chat with him for Metro ahead of his debut next week and he told me all about his excitement for where Ro goes next, his admiration for Ava’s performance in the role, and how it’s more important than ever amid negativity on social media to show the reality of the transgender community – they’re normal, everyday people just wanting to live their lives.

He explained: ‘I think it’s really important for the show to take this angle on it and it’s quite hard as a trans person to go online, look on your phone and scroll through and see all these negative things because a lot of the time, a lot of the stuff on the media is negative about trans people because it gets more clicks, whereas in real life, we’re just people, so it’s really nice that Hollyoaks has opened the doors to the reality of that and been able to be like “actually, no, we’re gonna portray the character as the every day person that people are.”‘

What drew Leo to the role, and what he picked up from watching Ava’s episodes back, were the similarities between his own life and Ro’s.

But after coming out, he was more determined than ever to really go for it with acting – and it’s paid off.

‘Before I came out, I always wanted to do singing and acting, but mainly I was wanting to act and play boy characters, but because I was a little girl who was wearing pink frilly dresses, I’d be in shows playing the princess role and things like that,’ he reflected.

‘I was 12 when I came out, from that moment on it was a very dead set, “oh I can do this, but I can be who I want to be at the same time, and I can play characters that I want to play”

‘I did high school, which was a bit rough, but acting and singing and dancing got me through it, and going to college, I went to a performing arts college, starting my course there, I was really enjoying it. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done because I could focus on what my passion was.’

He added: ‘Watching the episodes made me feel really emotional because I felt really see,n and I think it’s really important to have that trans representation in the media.

‘When I was sitting down watching someone who’s around my age going through the same thing as me, roughly, and who’s going through the same journey of female to male, and then having that experience, it was really nice to sort of be like “oh, so it is in the media and people are paying attention to kids like us”

‘It hit close to home because I’ve been in situations like Ro has been, and I think it was quite emotional to watch it.’

Now, he is on an actual real-life TV set, learning on the job, something which he describes as a ‘surreal’ experience which makes him feel very ‘lucky’.

While luck obviously plays a part in any acting career, given how sparse roles can be, talent and hard work obviously came along with it too. But Leo is humbled by the role, keen to learn, and spent his first day filming with Brookside icon Alex Fletcher, who plays Diane – someone he describes as ‘incredible.’

She’s not the only person to have offered Leo support – he is full of praise for his agent, Emmerdale and Coronation Street star Hayley Tamaddon, who has coached him ahead of the role.

But even more importantly is his loving family, who have been there for him throughout his journey.

‘Honestly, I would not be here without my mum, she’s my biggest support system, she has done so much for me, it’s brilliant to be able to do something like this and see how proud she is,’ he smiled.

‘She’s always been so proud, but that’s why it’s been so lovely to be able to prove myself a little bit. She’s trusted me a lot with what I’ve wanted to do, and she’s always been really open. She reads through scripts with me and helps me map out what I’m going to do, and like I said, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my mum and my little brother, he’s really awesome, he’s only 10.

‘I’ve got my nan and grandma who are just as brilliant, I’ve been surrounded by a really good support network who are all very open, very accepting, and who will stand up for me no matter what. I’m really lucky.’

So what of Ro himself, who has been through so much over the last couple of years? Leo reckons it’s time the long-suffering character had some joy.

He said: ‘I’m really excited to see where the character goes, I hope for something like a romance, but you never know.

Leo heaps praise on his predecessor Ava Webster

Having not been overly familiar with the show’s storylines before landing the role, Leo sat down with his mum and watched through Ro’s arc, and he has nothing but admiration and love for Ava Webster’s performance and dedication to the role.

‘We watched most of the episodes Ro and Ava had been in and it was amazing, especially the mental health episode with Ro, it really hit close to home, and it was really lovely to see that portrayal on screen,’ he told me.

‘I think Ava played Ro absolutely remarkably, so I’m trying to take as much as I can from Ava but also put my own self into the character and progress the character. I think Ava did such an amazing job of helping Ro through his story and leading the character to the point now.

‘It’s really important that that happened and that Ava was so brilliant and, yeah, she was really lovely to watch on screen and she portrayed a trans character so well. It was really nice to watch.

‘Me and my Mum sat and watched the mental health episode and we were both streaming with tears, the way Ava played it was absolutely amazing and the way the whole episode was set out was brilliant and so real and relatable to somebody like me who has been through the same thing.’

‘I’m just really looking forward to see where the character goes and seeing where the writers take me and doing that, and exploring the character at the same time, but yeah, I hope there’ll be something on the light hearted side, because he’s had some struggles’, so I hope something like that will come along, but, you know what it’s like!’

He added: ‘I am really proud to have landed this role, I think it’s such an amazing production to be a part of, especially because, as you said, they’re so good at finding the big issues and tackling them head on.

‘I think that the representation that has been given to my community, especially within the show, is absolutely amazing. I feel really lucky to be able to take this character and travel with him and I feel really lucky to work with people who are so accepting and so good at what they’re doing.’