Smoothy Simon MacCorkindale has had more than his fair share of visits to A&E
Playing the likes of Manimal’s Jonathan Chase and Falcon Crest’s Greg Reardon, actor Simon MacCorkindale has earned himself the reputation as one of TV’s eternal bachelor boys. But it’s as a family man that he’ll be seen from this week, playing Casualty’s new consultant, Harry Harper.
Brought in to replace the ousted Max Gallagher, Harry’s grand entrance at Holby is less than conventional, as he arrives at work with two of his five children in tow – six-month-old daughter, Daisy, and 15-year-old son, Jordan. This immediately sets him at odds with a disapproving Lara (Christine Stephen-Daly).
The nanny has just been fired by his wife – probably because Harry was paying her a little bit too much attention – so he ends up having to take his share of responsibility for the kids and take two of them to work,’ Simon, 50, explains.
‘But that’s not to say he’s unprofessional – one of the things that Harry will bring to Holby is a sense of order and discipline, and a sense of the old school way of running the department,’ he says.
Like many of the Casualty cast, Simon did a stint at an accident and emergency department in preparation for his role, but says he also has many real-life experiences to draw on. The actor runs a stud farm on Ex moor with his actress wife, Susan George, and he has been involved in his fair share of scrapes. ‘When I got the part, it was quite amusing because my wife was telling people, “Simon’s going into Casualty”. And they were all like, “Oh no, not again!”‘