Hollyoaks actor Rishi Nair lands first TV role since quitting soap as Sami Malik – alongside Hollywood star
HOLLYOAKS’ actor Rishi Nair has bagged his first TV role since quitting the show – alongside a Hollywood star.
Rishi shot to fame playing Sami Malik in the C4 show.
The Hollyoaks star quit last year after his character Sami confronted rapist Ali Shahzad (Raji James) – and now he’ll be starring in a new show alongside Hollywood star Jaime Winstone.
He shared news to his fans that he has moved on – and will be taking up an exciting new role.
Giving fans a glimpse of his script on his first day of rehearsal he told fans the project was called Countabdulla.
Read more on Hollyoaks
Rishi, who played lawyer Sami Malik on the C4 soap between 2017 – 2022, will appear in the six-part series, which is currently in pre-production.
Other actor’s appearing in the show include The Bay’s Arian Nik and Star Wars and Homeland actor Akshay Kumar.
Actor Rishi made his debut on the long-running soap Hollyoaks back in 2017.
Most read in Showbiz
Speaking about leaving Hollyoaks he told the Daily Mail: “I don’t want to say this is goodbye forever because we never know what the future might hold but I feel like he’s left at a good time. We’ve seen him go full circle.
“He came to the village looking for revenge and was a bit of a villain at the beginning and we’ve kind of seen the real Sami and his soft side has come through.
“He acted as the dad of the family looking out for his younger siblings and they’re growing up now and they’re not kids anymore. He’ll always be there but he doesn’t need to be there every day.”
Rishi’s character has taken centre stage in a number of high-profile plots over the years.
Read More on The Sun
Reflecting on his most memorable storyline, he said there’s one that stands out from the rest:
“My favourite storyline by far was far-right radicalisation, it being the first-time racism was ever covered on a UK soap, and being such an integral part of that storyline made me feel so proud.
“It meant so much to me to cover that on a personal level as well. It was great hearing the stories and the reception it had, with people stopping you on the street, and messages on social media about how happy they were that it was being covered on prime-time TV covered in such a real way,” he said.