Hollyoaks’ Ellis Hollins hopes Tony Hutchinson will turn into Leonardo DiCaprio’s ‘The Revenant’ character and become the "hardest man ever to grace Hollyoaks" if he finally escapes evil Breda McQueen’s clutches.
The 20-year-old actor – who has starred as Tom Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap since 1999, when he was three years old – hopes Nick Pickard’s character will turn no-nonsense if he is finally free from the pig farm, where serial killer Breda has been keeping him prisoner.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I think he’s going to come back after everyone thought he’s dead.
"He’ll be alive and be battle scarred with a massive beard, long hair. Like Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘The Revenant’.
"I think he’s going to come back as the hardest man to ever grace Hollyoaks and doesn’t take crap from anyone."
When it was suggested Tony could sleep under a pig’s carcass to keep warm, after Leo’s character Hugh Glass – who was a real-life fur trapper – slept in a horse’s carcass, Ellis replied: "Yeah, that would be brilliant.
"It would keep him warm. Maybe on ‘Hollyoaks Later’."
‘Hollyoaks’ fans were previously fuming when they thought Breda had added to her list of victims by killing Tony, and Ellis wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead either.
He added: "I wasn’t a part of any of that so I didn’t know what was going on until I read a ‘Hollyoaks’ post which said something like, ‘I can’t believe Tony is dead.’
"Even I was like, ‘Oh, I saw him yesterday.’
"I went on the comments and everyone was devastated.
"I think it really stirred a lot of people, which got a lot of people wondering if he really is dead and watching the show. It was a clever tactic."
And Ellis is also hopeful Tony’s new hardman outlook will lead to him having a distinctive tattoo.
He added: "I just hope he goes back hard as nails, with a mum tattoo, and love and hate tattooed on his knuckles."