Jonathan Howard has ditched the glamour of Hollywood for a role on Coronation Street and he has already got ITV fans gripped with the storyline after making an indecent proposal to his brother’s wife after a car park crash.

Jonathan’s character Carl, who is the long-lost brother of Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell), came on to his wife Abi (Sally Carman) and after a series of unfortunate events he saw her displaying adept engine skills, when she fixed his car after they collided.

Now, firmly settled in the family fold, they are left wondering if her hostility is a defense mechanism. 

The gripping storyline certainly caught Jonathan’s attention and he swapped Los Angeles for the role and even slept in his old childhood bedroom while filming. 

Over the last 10 years, Jonathan has worked with the likes of Brad Pitt, Chris Hemsworth and Anthony Hopkins but noted that landing the part in Corrie is his greatest achievement. 

He told The Mirror: ‘Being in Coronation Street is just as big a thrill as being in a Hollywood film or an American TV series. It’s all the same, everyone’s telling stories, whether it’s a big $200m movie or a soap like Corrie.

Jonathan Howard has ditched the glamour of Hollywood for a role on Coronation Street and he has already got ITV fans gripped with the storyline

Over the last 10 years, Jonathan has worked with the likes of Natalie Portman (L), Brad Pitt, Chris Hemsworth, and Kat Dennings (R), but noted that landing the part in Corrie is his greatest achievement

‘As a Lancashire lad born and raised, the dream was to be in Coronation Street – that was the ceiling, so it feels wonderfully surreal to now be acting with people like Kevin Webster that I watched religiously as a kid. 

‘I’m staying with my mum and I sleep in my childhood bedroom. It’s been really nice to come home – going back to my roots.’ 

Over the years, Jonathan has played Charles Dance’s son in the 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and worked with Brad, who produced and starred in the 2013 action horror film World War Z.

He has also appeared in several Hollywood blockbusters, including the Marvel superhero film Thor: The Dark World, where he played astrophysicist Ian Boothby, alongside Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman and Idris Elba.

He continued: ‘Thor was crazy. I was less than a year out of drama school. The best part was two days with Anthony Hopkins, which was fantastic. We swapped emails and we emailed each other now and then. I’d had the biggest crush on Natalie Portman and then suddenly I was sitting chatting to her and I’d go out for dinner with Stellan Skarsgard.’

Jonathan admitted that at the start of filming with the huge stars he ‘was ridiculously nervous’  but due to his character being a geeky intern he ‘used my nervousness for the part.’

However, the actor noted that his new role on the Cobbles is a dream come true after he previously was left ‘really disappointed’ after auditioning in 2008 at the age of 21 for the role of Weatherfield bad boy Gary Windᴀss but missed out to Mikey North.

After losing the role to Gary, Jonathan went to drama school where he met his wife and went onto star in Hollywood blockbusters.   

He said: ‘Being in Corrie is just as big a thrill as being in a Hollywood film. It’s all the same, everyone’s telling stories, whether it’s a big $200m movie or a soap like Corrie; pictured L-R Charles Dance, Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Jonathan in Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019

‘As a Lancashire lad born and raised, the dream was to be in Corrie – that was the ceiling, so it feels wonderfully surreal to now be acting with people like Kevin Webster that I watched religiously as a kid’, he added

Over the years, Jonathan has played Charles Dance’s son in the 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters; pictured with Millie Bobby Brown

He has also worked with Brad Pitt, who produced and starred in the 2013 action horror film World War Z (pictured) 

He has also appeared in several Hollywood blockbusters, including the Marvel superhero film Thor: The Dark World, where he played astrophysicist Ian Boothby; pictured with Janel Parrish

Jonathan also starred in Kingdom alongside Nick Jonas

Jonathan, who has also appeared in Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge, but has mainly worked in America, after moving there ten years ago with his wife, French actress Elodie Yung. The couple share a six-year-old daughter

Jonathan, who grew up near Southport, made his TV debut aged 14 in the children’s series Looking After the Penneys and at 18 landed the role of footballer Gavin Moody in Dream Team.

He has appeared in Downton Abbey, Episodes and Mr Selfridge, but has mainly worked in America, after moving there ten years ago with his wife, French actress Elodie Yung. 

The couple are now proud parents to a six-year-old daughter, which Jonathan said has been hard filming in the UK due to being away from home in Los Angeles where his wife and daughter are based.

He revealed he has not seen his family for two months since filming started but said they plan on coming to England for the summer while their daughter is not in school.  

Jonathan made his grand entrance on Coronation Street as Carl last week as he collided with Abi’s can in the supermarket car park. 

Sparks quickly flew and he wasted no time in asking her out but Abi turned him down and later discovered that he was her husband Kevin’s brother, visiting from Germany.

Abi was left horrified as Kevin asked Carl to stay with them during his visit after he learned that his business in Germany is struggling. 

Later this month Carl makes a move and tries to kiss Abi – with rumours suggesting an affair is on the cards.

Talking about his character, Jonathan insists he is ‘not a bad guy’ and instead feels ‘he doesn’t owe Kevin anything’ as they haven’t been a part of each others lives.