Playing a cuddly character on television can be a double-edged sword for an actor.

Danny Edwards is known to countless kids as the nice-guy nurse Marcus in the junior soap Children's Ward.

But most of his theatre roles seem to cast him in a less favourable light - and that can cause a headache when he is besieged by young fans.

In the musical Inner City Jam, which has just opened at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, Danny plays Stewart, a porn peddlar living it up in the gay underworld.

"My opening line is a swear word and it goes downhill from there," smiled Danny.

So when young admirers recognise him around town and ask him what play he's in, Danny feels awkward about telling them about Inner City Jam.

The musical is strong stuff, exposing the seedy side of life in London's Kings Cross and featuring a cast of prostitutes, punks, pimps.

"Stewart's awful. He's one of those awful breed of people who hang around clubs. He's like a gay equivalent of the lager lout," said Danny.

"He gets his money from all sorts of dodgy things like porn and anything that's illegal. They're often known as the Velvet Mafia.

"He's actually quite pathetic but there's a reason why he's like that."

His role as Stewart is quite a contrast to his Children's Ward character - but it's not the first time Danny has had a drastic image change.

"I have played transsexuals and all sorts of things. I always get cast as someone with a sexual bent to their character. I prefer to play someone who's a bit more like that, although ironically I also play the friendly, nice nurse Marcus," said Danny.

"I'm very proud that I have had a very, very varied career. I class myself as a character actor. They're all extremely different characters. I would hate to be playing the handsome juvenile leads the whole time. That's boring."

As well as Children's Ward, Danny has featured in TV shows like London Bridge, and he also played opposite Patrick Malahide in the feature film Heaven. But he is always keen to get away from being in front of the camera and back to treading the boards.

"You forget your craft unless you go back into the theatre. Telly is where the money is but as an actor it's really important for you to go back to the theatre. It's very easy to slip into staying in television because the money is so good but the thing about is that you don't know what the reaction is to your performance. In the theatre you can hear it," said Danny.

Inner City Jam began as a Broadway show called Inner City but was adapted into its current form, which features a soul-driven score by Helen Miller, for its premiere in London last year.

It is on at the West Yorkshire Playhouse until April 29 - and Danny promises that the revised production is even more spectacular than before.

"The reason it looked a certain way last year was because of money. It was literally because the sound wasn't as good as it should have been and the space itself was very small," he said.

For tickets, priced from £8.50 to £17.50, ring (0113) 2137700.

Simon Ashberry

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