Leon Ockenden

{{Infobox person

| name = Leon Ockenden

| image = File:Leon Ockenden (5616262409).jpg

| caption = Ockenden in The Cosmonaut (2013)

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1978|8|16|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Looe, Cornwall, England

| occupation = Actor

| children= 1

| yearsactive = 2003–present

| spouse = {{marriage|Vanessa Hehir|24 October 2010}}

}}

Leon Ockenden (born 16 August 1978) is an English actor, director and writer who works in TV, film, theatre and radio. He grew up in the resort town of Looe, Cornwall.{{cite web |last=Crawford |first=Sue |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/heartbeat-heart-throb-leon-ockenden-sets-1651577 |title=Heartbeat Heart-throb Leon Ockenden Sets Pulses Racing |work=Daily Mirror |publisher=Trinity Mirror |date=30 March 2008 |accessdate=29 November 2015}} He is best known for his role as Norman Jayden in Heavy Rain.

Career

Ockenden left school at the age of 16 to become a baker. After working in hotel kitchens in Sweden and Germany for one year, he returned to Britain to work as a pastry chef at the Hilton Hotel on London's Park Lane. He studied performing arts at the College of Further Education in Plymouth. He then received a scholarship from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where he took a three-year acting course and graduated in 2003.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1YIDEogmcc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/s1YIDEogmcc |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Interview – Leon Ockendon (Norman Jayden) |publisher=YouTube |date=24 March 2012 |accessdate=18 May 2013}}{{cbignore}}

Ockenden appeared in the British/Australian drama television series Tripping Over, playing a carpenter named Callum. He lent his voice and likeness to the 2010 video game Heavy Rain, in which he played Federal Bureau of Investigation profiler Norman Jayden. Before the show was cancelled in 2015, he was a regular of the British drama television series Waterloo Road, in which he played the role of Hector Reid, a jocular and sometimes vitriolic teacher of PE. After Waterloo Road, Ockenden has had other roles as a recurring cast member. One of these roles includes the character of Will Chatterton in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street. He has also joined the presenting team on the chat show This Morning as one of its regular chefs for its cooking segment.

He also appeared in a television advert for Verisure in 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Media-and-TV/Question1749368.html|title=Verisure Advert in the AnswerBank: Media & TV}}

Personal life

Ockenden married actress Vanessa Hehir on 24 October 2010. They have a daughter. Ockenden is a fan of Liverpool.{{cite news |url=http://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/529331/Vanessa-Hehir-and-Leon-Ockenden-from-Waterloo-Road-married-in-real-life |title='I was sick to my stomach,' says Vanessa Hehir on love scenes with her husband |work=Daily Express |date=1 November 2014 |accessdate=26 December 2016}}

Filmography

class="wikitable"

|+Key

| style="background:#FFFFCC;"| {{dagger|alt=Not yet released}}

|Denotes works that have not yet been released

=Films=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
2005 \| Vegabond Shoes \| Champagne waiter \| Short film
2009 \| Mr. Right \| Lawrence \|
2009 \| Dread \| Jimmy Cake \|
2011 \| Baroque \| Lover/fighter \| Short film
2011 \| {{sortname\|The\|Field of Vision\|nolink=1}} \| Cpt. Joe Temski \| Short film
2012 \| Red Tails \| Co-pilot \|
2013 \| The Cosmonaut \| Stas \|
2013 \| Don't Miss the Cup \| Peter \|Short film
2015 \| Eliana \| Dude \| Short film
2016 \| Across the River \| Cake shop owner \|
2020 \| The Reckoning \| Morton Tobias \|
rowspan="2"\|2021 \| R.I.A. \| Robert \|
The Willows \| Peter \| Short film
rowspan="2"\|2022 \| The Bulls \| Leon \| Short film
The Lair \| Oswald Jones \|
2024 \| The RedRoom \| Hugo \| Short film
TBA \|style="background:#FFFFCC;"\|{{dagger\|alt=Not yet released}}Lioness \| Viscount Davenport \| Pre-production

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

2005

| Vegabond Shoes

| Champagne waiter

| Short film

2009

| Mr. Right

| Lawrence

2009

| Dread

| Jimmy Cake

2011

| Baroque

| Lover/fighter

| Short film

2011

| {{sortname|The|Field of Vision|nolink=1}}

| Cpt. Joe Temski

| Short film

2012

| Red Tails

| Co-pilot

2013

| The Cosmonaut

| Stas

2013

| Don't Miss the Cup

| Peter

|Short film

2015

| Eliana

| Dude

| Short film

2016

| Across the River

| Cake shop owner

2020

| The Reckoning

| Morton Tobias

rowspan="2"|2021

| R.I.A.

| Robert

The Willows

| Peter

| Short film

rowspan="2"|2022

| The Bulls

| Leon

| Short film

The Lair

| Oswald Jones

2024

| The RedRoom

| Hugo

| Short film

TBA

|style="background:#FFFFCC;"|{{dagger|alt=Not yet released}}Lioness

| Viscount Davenport

| Pre-production

=Television=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
rowspan="2"\|2003 \| Judge John Deed \| Nick \| Episode: "Economic Imperative"
{{sortname\|The\|Private Life of Samuel Pepys}} \| Pembleton \| Television film
rowspan="4"\|2004 \| Midsomer Murders \| Jamie Cruickshank \| Episode: "The Maid in Splendour"
Hawking \| Rosencrantz \| Television film
Hustle \| Simon \| Episode: "A Touch of Class"
Family Affairs \| Sam Taylor \| Series regular (May–December)
2005 \| Totally Frank \| Miles \| Episode: "Bed"
2006 \| Tripping Over \| Callum \| 6 episodes
2007–2008 \| Heartbeat \| Dr Chris Oakley \| 10 episodes
2008 \| Heroes and Villains \| Earl of Leicester \| Episode: "Richard the Lionheart"
2009 \| Casualty \| Luke Riley \| Episode: "Every Breath You Take"
rowspan="4"\|2010 \| Secret Diary of a Call Girl \| Connor \| Episode No. 3.7
Identity \| DI Terry Eggleston \| Episode: "Chelsea Girl"
{{sortname\|An\|Old Fashioned Christmas\|nolink=1}} \| Cameron \| Television film
New Tricks \| Kevin Humphreys \| Episode: "Good Morning Lemmings"
2011 \| {{sortname\|The\|Runaway\|dab=TV series}} \| Bruce \| Episode No. 1.4
rowspan="2"\|2012 \| Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story \| Philip \| Television film
Secrets of the Dead \| Vasily Arkhipov \| Episode: "The Man Who Saved the World"
rowspan="3"\|2013 \| Casualty \| Adam Ridle \| Episode: "Punch Drunk Love"
{{ill\|Open Desert (film)\|de\|Wüstenherz – Der Trip meines Lebens\|lt=Open Desert}} \| David \| Television film
The Cosmonaut: Transmedia Experience \| Stas \| Main cast (31 episodes)
2014 \| Waterloo Road \| Hector Reid \| 20 episodes
rowspan="3"\|2015 \|Mr Selfridge \|Serge De Bolotoff \|10 episodes
Supreme Tweeter \| Tweeter \| Episode: "Follow the Leader"
The Coroner \| Danny Ball \| Episode: "That's the Way to Do It"
2016 \| This Morning \| Guest Chef \| 10 Episodes, stood in for Phil Vickery
2016–2017 \|Coronation Street \|Will Chatterton \|Recurring role; 40 episodes
rowspan="3"\|2022 \| Father Brown \| Richard Belcroft \| Episode: "The Viper's Tongue"
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? \| Alex Pritchard \| Miniseries; 2 episodes
Whitstable Pearl \| Scott \| Episode: "The Gumshoe and the Femme Fatale"
2023 \| Ancient Empires \| Philip II'' \| Episode: "Alexander The Great"
2024 \|Senna \|James Hunt \|

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

rowspan="2"|2003

| Judge John Deed

| Nick

| Episode: "Economic Imperative"

{{sortname|The|Private Life of Samuel Pepys}}

| Pembleton

| Television film