Jack Downham is best known to TV viewers as Emmerdale’s Noah Dingle – but he has also appeared in a major Hollywood film, landing a role alongside some major A-list actors
Emmerdale fans have watched Jack Downham grow up on their screens, with the talented youngest joining the soap back in 2009 as Noah Dingle, Charity Dingle and Chris Tate’s son.
Now, more than 15 years later, Jack has taken centre stage in some major storylines. Most recently, his character was spiked by his half-brother Joe Tate as part of a larger plot to steal a kidney from Noah.
But Emmerdale is not Jack’s only big credit. He previously starred as Peter Morley on Heartbeat, and also played Young Robin in the 2010 blockbuster version of Robin Hood, alongside Hollywood heavyweights Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.
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Jack, who attended the Scala School for Performing Arts in Horsforth at the time, took it all in his stride, according to his mum Clare.
Ahead of filming, she told the Telegraph and Argus: “We are all so excited about it but Jack is taking it in his stride. He had two screen tests at Scala then he went for an audition during half-term. He had a chat with Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott and got the part!
“He’s completely into Robin Hood, he watches it every week,” she added. “Now he’s going to be Robin Hood himself! It seems a bit surreal.”
And despite meeting two of Hollywood’s most powerful figures, Jack wasn’t remotely star-struck. “He doesn’t get fazed by things like that so he was pretty relaxed,” Clare shared. “It probably helped that he hasn’t seen their films yet because they’re generally not suitable for children of his age.”
Jack isn’t the only actor in the family. His sister Sophie has also racked up a number of impressive TV credits, including Unforgiven, Doctor Who, and Appropriate Adult, alongside Emily Mortimer and Dominic West.
Jack was cast permanently on Emmerdale in 2009 after a series of stints appearing as an extra. He is the third actor to have played the character of Noah Dingle, following in the footsteps of Alfie Mortimer and Sam Duffy.
At the start of the year, the 23-year-old star admitted he had his eyes on another TV show – but said he feared he would get a ‘battering’ if he ever signed up.
During an interview with Inside Soap about his life both on and off screen, the actor was asked if he’d like to appear in any reality TV.
Jack replied: “Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins would probably be the one. I think I’d take a battering and might be out on the second day. But I’d give it a go. I like to challenge myself.”
Jack tends to keep his personal life out of the spotlight despite his soap stardom, and over the years has only shared a handful of posts on social media.
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