Ellis Hollins

Ellis Hollins
Born	(1999-11-14) 14 November 1999 Manchester, England
Occupation	Character actor
Years active	1999–present
Employer	Lime Pictures

Ellis Hollins (born 14 November 1999) is a British Soap Award winning child actor. He is most famous for playing the role Tom Cunningham in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, which he has played since 1999, only being weeks old.^[1]^[2] In 2006, he appeared in Alpha Male, a family film released in the United Kingdom.

Acting work

Being only weeks old, in 1999, Hollins was cast as Tom Cunningham in Channel 4s soap opera Hollyoaks.

In 2005 Ellis played the part of 'Nathan' in the Dan Wilde production of 'Alpha Male'. Ellis' part was dramatic and he undertook all his own stunts.

Hollins has been involved in many dramatic storylines playing Tom, including the death of both his parents and his brother, starting a fire while playing with matches and running away due to starting that fire and going to court for attacking intruder Esther Bloom.

Hollins has also appeared in several Hollyoaks spin offs. In 2008 he appeared in all five episodes of series one of Hollyoaks Later, a late night spin-off series to Hollyoaks airing at 10pm on E4 over 5 consecutive nights (24–28 November 2008). Hollins was involved in one of the main stories of the series, which saw Tom kidnapped by crazed Niall Rafferty. Hollins has appeared in all three series of the Hollyoaks Music show which aired on Saturday mornings on T4 over several months in 2009,2010 and 2011. Hollins appeared as his Hollyoaks character, nicknamed 'Lil Tom' in a segment which saw Tom Cunningham interview various music artists. He also appeared in the October 2009 spin-off series Hollyoaks: The Good, the Bad and the Gorgeous, which took a look back at some of the best moments in Hollyoaks. The special also featured various specially filmed segments and Hollins appeared in one as Tom. Hollins started alongside Carley Stenson (Steph Cunningham)

2012-Ellis has played the role of a young Hans Christian Andersen in the BBC Radio4 Drama The Beautiful Ugly.

Awards

Hollins has become a favourite amongst Hollyoaks fans and was nominated for a British Soap Award in the 'Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor or Actress' category in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. He won the award in 2006,^[3] losing out to Coronation Street star Sam Aston in 2005, Emmerdale star Eden Taylor-Draper in 2007,EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick in 2008 and EastEnders star Maisie Smith in 2009.

Thank-you very much for this award. But... I just don't know what to say, but! [Matt whispers something to him] Thanks to the director...Jill Robins...[Matt whispers in his ear] Robinson... [Sarah whispers something to him] Thanks to Mark and Sarah... [Matt whispers to him a third time] Matt and Sarah I mean!
—Ellis Hollins' speech when picking up his award at the 2006 British Soap Awards, accompanied by on-screen siblings Matt Littler and Sarah Jayne Dunn

Hollins won Best Young Actor at the Inside Soap Awards in 2005, 2006 and 2008 and was nominated for the award in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. In 2008, he won Best Child Actor at the inaugural Digital Spy Soap Awards. In 2009 in a poll for Inside Soap magazine, Hollins's Hollyoaks character Tom was voted 'Soap's greatest ever child'.

Ellis has also been nominated for best young actor in the 2012 Inside Soap Awards Magazine.

Awards and Nominations

Hollins has become a favourite amongst Hollyoaks fans and was nominated for a British Soap Award in the 'Best Young Actor' category in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. He won the award in 2006,^[4] losing out to Coronation Street star Sam Aston in 2005, Emmerdale star Eden Taylor-Draper in 2007,EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick in 2008, EastEnders star Maisie Smith in 2009,Coronation Street star Alexander Bain in 2011, Eastenders star Lorna Fitzgerald in 2012 and Emmerdale star Eden Taylor-Drapper in 2013. he won the 'best young performance' award in 2014.