Dominic has played Emmerdale vet Paddy Kirk for over 25 years, making him one of the longest-serving actors to still be on the show. At the moment, the beloved character is trying to support his wife, Chas Dingle (played by Lucy Pargeter), who recently discovered her mother Faith Dingle (Sally Dexter) has terminal cancer. Unfortunately, the bar manager will end up cheating on her spouse in upcoming scenes on the ITV soap but off-screen, life couldn’t be any more different for the actor, who marked a milestone birthday during the coronavirus lockdown.
How old is Emmerdale actor Dominic Brunt?
According to the world of the weeknight serial drama, Dominic plays a character who is 53 years old, having been born July 1 1969.
In the coming weeks, Faith will want to celebrate her son-in-law’s birthday as she thinks this could be the last party she attends.
Back to real life and the actor is actually somewhat younger than his alter-ego as Dominic is only 52 years old, meaning he has been a part of the show for almost half of his life.
The soap star celebrates his birthday on 15 April 1970, meaning he marked turning half a decade as the world went into lockdown as a result of the pandemic.
Although Dominic uses social media platforms, he hasn’t told his followers how he marked his birthday this year, but it was presumably with his family and friends.
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The last post he made before his birthday on Twitter was telling his 114,400 followers he had caught coronavirus on 29 March 2022.
With the self-isolation period being 10 days, he would have just made it out of quarantine in time for his birthday this year.
Given his age, this means the soap star would have been 27 years old when he joined the cast of Emmerdale 25 years ago.
This is not an uncommon age for actors to join the show as many of his co-stars became a part of the programme during their mid-20s to early 30s.
However, Dominic’s career on-screen started much earlier than this as he was cast to play a character on The Bill in 1995.
Dominic added: “This was before the video nasties purge so we had free reign. It never did us any harm whatsoever and we laughed our a***s off.
“It’s the news and Jeremy Kyle that scares me.”
However, despite his love for horror, it seems 25 years on-screen hasn’t become a novelty for the soap star just yet.
He explained: “I think the typecasting question only ever gets levelled at soap actors. I have done enough of a variety of jobs.
“Cleaning, waitering, market selling, foundry work, bar work, fruit picking, welding etc to realise that I’m on to one of the best jobs on this earth.
“I’m lucky and I know it. I absolutely love Emmerdale and as long as they’ll have me I’ll give them everything I have,” he continued.
“It’s long hours and can get pretty stressful but that’s what I enjoy,” Dominic said before stating whether he prefers acting or directing.
The actor remarked: “I prefer acting but I found a new passion in directing and editing. I would never choose to direct and be in anything else, ever again though.
“It’s too much to ask of yourself. I would direct again at the drop of a hat but it’s not as immediate as acting. I loved planning shots and working out the camera positions.
“I watch too many films and I remember tricks, which they use, and favourite scenes etc so I had a deep well to draw/steal from.”
“The day job allows me to be with TV directors every day and I know that the calmer you are in a situation where everyone is expecting from you, the better,” he said.
“If the director is stressed and unfocused then the crew and cast are all over the place.
“I was given this opportunity and I didn’t want to mess it up so I planned it to within an inch of its life so I could then enjoy and indulge in the process,” he told the Horror Channel.
It seems Dominic will be sticking around for a while yet and could be on the show for another 25 years, taking well into his 70s.
Emmerdale airs weekdays at 7:30pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode airing on Thursdays.