Emmerdale Nate star ‘devastated’ when first career was crushed – but now he’s grateful
Emmerdale star Jurell Carter hit the jackpot when he landed the role of Nate Robinson in 2019 but the actor had a completely different dream when he was a child
Emmerdale star Jurell Carter admitted he’s “grateful” despite his dreams being crushed as a child.
The actor, best known for his role as Nate Robinson on the ITV soap, had dreams of being a footballer when he was younger. He confessed that despite having a passion for acting, football was “his life” growing up.
“I love it so much! Since I was a kid, football was my life,” the soap star told New Magazine. I literally played all the time, in school and out of school. I was confident with football and even though I loved acting, if you put me on a stage, I would crumble.”
Jurell added: “I wasn’t confident to get up in front of everyone. I am now so grateful football didn’t work out.”
The ITV star’s dreams of playing for Birmingham City almost came true when he was offered a scholarship to play in South Carolina. But unfortunately for Jurell, he couldn’t find the funds to cover the other 35% of the costs.
“I was so devastated. It was something I loved so passionately, for it then not to go through… it was heartbreaking,” he said. “I knew that I had to follow something else that I was passionate about but hadn’t had the confidence to do, and that was acting.
Although it wasn’t his original dream, Jurell always loved acting, from reciting movie lines to perfecting different accents. What stopped him from originally pursuing it was his confidence.
He went on: “But as cliched as it sounds, life is so short and I didn’t want to have any regrets. Losing out on the football career made me determined to succeed in the acting.
“I believe that no matter where you come from, if you can see something, visualise it and have the passion then you can achieve it.” Jurell went as far to say he believes it is “fate” that his career as a footballer didn’t work out because it led him down the path of acting.
Nate’s world recently came crumbling down when he discovered his wife Tracy (Amy Walsh) was cheating on him with his uncle Caleb (Will Ash). During Tuesday’s episode (March 5) of the soap, Nate was unable to control his anger when he spotted Caleb speaking to Tracy.
Desperate for revenge, Nate asked Aaron (Danny Miller) to help him steal some of the businesses cars. Aaron refused, but could see Nate’s determination to follow through with the risky plan.