Paul Opacic

Paul Opacic (born 1966) is a British actor from Halifax, England. Best known for his roles as Carl Costello in Hollyoaks, Steve Marchant in Emmerdale and Mark Waddle in Bad Girls. In 2021, he joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Stefan Brent.

Career After appearing in several minor television credits in the early 1990s, including comedies Only Fools and Horses and Birds of a Feather, it was in 1996 that Opacic got his big break when he was cast in Emmerdale as Steve Marchant, a new love interest for Kim Tate. Opacic enjoyed several high-profile storylines in his time on the show, before his character was axed by producer Kieran Roberts in 1999. Opacic's stint in Emmerdale led to later appearances in Heartbeat, Doctors and Peak Practice before he joined ITV prison drama Bad Girls in 2001 at the beginning of its third series playing officer Mark Waddle. Opacic left the series the following year and last appeared at the end of the fourth series. In the ensuing years he appeared in several minor roles in programmes such as Cold Feet, The Bill and Totally Frank. In 2006, he joined the cast of the new BBC drama The Chase in a supporting role and remained with the show until it was cancelled in 2007. Further television credits include The Royal, Holby City and most recently Waterloo Road, in which he portrayed the neglectful father of one of the school pupils Finn Sharkey.

In early 2010, it was stated that Lucy Allan had quit the position of executive producer of Hollyoaks and that Paul Marquess had taken over the role. It was soon announced that Marquess planned to give the soap a "shake up". He cast Opacic in a new central family in the soap opera, stating he would play the role of Carl Costello. He stayed in the soap until 2013, and made a two-episode guest stint in 2018. In 2021, he was cast in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as villain Stefan Brent.

Opacic is of Croatian and English heritage.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1991 Only Fools and Horses Jules Episode: "The Chance of a Lunchtime" 1991 4 Play Biker 1 episode 1991 Birds of a Feather Hairdresser 1 episode 1992 Lovejoy Andrew 1 episode 1992 Screen Two Jeff 1 episode 1992 Sam Saturday DC Knights 4 episodes 1992 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles French Officer 1992 Screen One Policeman 1 1993 Love Hurts Musician 1 episode 1993 All in the Game Weeks 6 episodes 1993 Mr. Bean Rob 1 episode 1994 Men of the World Young Man from Top Clothes 1 episode 1996–1999 Emmerdale Steve Marchant Series regular; 256 episodes 1996 Element of Doubt Traffic Policeman 1996 A Secret Slave Kumari's Solicitor 1999 Triple Exposure 2000, 2008 Doctors RickSimon Amley 2 episodes 2000 Heartbeat Graham Rysinski 3 episodes 2001 Peak Practice Mark Kershaw 3 episodes 2001–2002 Bad Girls Mark Waddle Series regular; 19 episodes 2003, 2008 Holby City Carl JeffriesKevin Mathers 2 episodes 2003 Cold Feet Howard Trigg 1 episode 2003 The Bill Nikitsa Severic 3 episodes 2004 In Denial of Murder Detective 2004 Murder in Suburbia Matt 2004 A Thing Called Love Rich Allen 1 episode 2005 Vincent Andrew McCormack 1 episode 2005–2006 Totally Frank Thom 5 episodes 2006–2007 The Chase Adrian Huby Series regular; 16 episodes 2007 The Royal Gideon Bradley 1 episode 2008 Sofia's Diary Simon Taylor 1 episode 2009 Salvage Corporal Simms 2010 Waterloo Road Ryan Sharkey 2 episodes 2010–2013, 2018 Hollyoaks Carl Costello Series regular; 134 episodes 2010 Hollyoaks Later Carl Costello 2 episodes 2017 The Moorside Detective Superintendent Paul Brennan 2 episodes 2021, 2024 Coronation Street Stefan Brent 14 episodes