Ash Palmisciano is best known for his role as Matty Barton on ITV’s Emmerdale, but the actor revealed a careers adviser told him it was “unrealistic” to be an actor.
In a post on Twitter, Ash shared a picture of himself in a football t-shirt with “Barton 9” written on the back.
https://twitter.com/Ash_Palmo/status/1143457523594383360
In the tweet, the 29-year-old wrote: “1 year on screen for Matty B [celebration emoji] careers advisor told me, it was unrealistic for me to be an actor, too much competition, said I should think about a factory or office!
“Good jobs but wasn’t my dream, glad I ignored her cause least I can look back & say I did it for a bitX [sic].”
Ash first appeared on screen last year as Matty.
Whilst Ash was new to Emmerdale, his character was recast with Ash taking over the role from Grace Cassidy.
Matty is Emmerdale’s first transgender character.
Matty was born a female named Hannah to John and Moira Barton. Hannah was on screen from 2009-2012 before leaving to go live in London.
Last year Matty snuck onto Butlers farm to retrieve his birth certificate which he needed to legally change his gender, but was caught by stepdad Cain who mistook him for an intruder. However, as soon as Moira walked in, she recognised her child.
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Matty recently underwent surgery in the next stage of his transition.
Last year, Ash, who is also transgender, revealed the surprising way he won the part of Matty Barton.
Appearing on Lorraine, he explained: “It is crazy. There’s an amazing charity called All About Trans. They work with positive representations in the media of trans people.
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“They said to me, ‘We’re doing interaction with Emmerdale, they’re thinking about doing this storyline, they’re looking for some advice on positive reps’. They said, ‘Do you want to come?’ And I said, ‘Sure, cheeky day out!’
“I went along, and the next thing they said, ‘Do you want to audition?’ Being an actor, I said, ‘Of course!’ And, here I am.”
Emmerdale is on Monday to Friday at 7pm with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursday on ITV.
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