Nicholas Evans (born 20 April 1979) is an English actor who is best known for playing the roles of Roy Glover on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale from 1994 to 2000 and Shane Maguire on Channel 4's hit comedy drama Shameless from 2006 to 2013.
Early life Evans was born in Bradford. His father worked as a disc jockey at local clubs, something Evans also did after leaving school.Emmerdale profile, Roy Glover / retrieved 28 August 2026 Evans studied part time at a music college.
Career Evans started acting at the age of six, when his mother saw in a newspaper that children were needed for catalogue work. Through this advert, Evans got an agent and three months later appeared in an advert for Steak Express. He appeared in more adverts as an child, before landing roles on television as a teenager. His first television role was in an episode of Stay Lucky in 1991. He also appeared in an episode of Heartbeat in 1992.
In 1994, Evans landed his first major role as Roy Glover in Emmerdale. First introduced in August 1994,Caravan of love". Inside Soap. No. 25. September 1994. p. 20. Glover was the youngest child in the family. Because of a storyline involving Glover cutting off two of his fingers (which were successfully reattached), Evans had to wear a splint for six months of filming, and found it difficult filming with it on, later saying: "It is certainly one of the most dramatic moments I've been involved in on Emmerdale and I was really pleased with the way the scene looks", and also described filming the actual scene as "difficult " as they had to reshoot the scene multiple times to get "the horror over without being too sickening."Nicky Evans, 1996 Daily Mirror interview / published 4 April 1996, retrieved 28 August 2026 Evans appeared in 488 episodes of Emmerdale over the course of six years, before he chose to leave the Soap in 2000.
After leaving Emmerdale, Evans appeared in several popular shows as a one-off, including Doctors, Holby City, The Royal, and The Bill.
From 2006 to 2013, Evans portrayed Shane Maguire in the comedy drama series Shameless. He first appeared in its third series as a one-off, but then starting from the shows fourth series became a more prominent character, especially in later series' when the shows focus shifted from the Gallagher family to the Maguires.
In 2015, Evans completed the role of Dragon in the 2016 British crime thriller The Contract.
Evans has appeared in horror films directed by Dominic Brunt, including Before Dawn (2013), Attack of the Adult Babies (2017), Evie (2021), and Wolf Manor (2022).
Evans is also a musician. He had a recording studio in his house as a young adult, and can play guitar and keyboard. While at college, Evans spent two years producing his own concept album, but after the hard drive failed and lost all the files, he sold his studio gear to another musician.
Personal life Just before he was hired to join Shameless, Evans moved to Cameroon and volunteered rehabilitating chimpanzees, but came back to England after he contracted Malaria.
As of 2021, Evans was living in London.
Filmography
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1991Stay LuckyScoutone episode1992HeartbeatGraham Thompson1993HarryBiker 21994Screen TwoToddy1994–2000EmmerdaleRoy Gloverfour hundred and eighty-eight episodes2000DoctorsTomone episode2001Clocking OffAlex AindowBob & RoseGino BarkerHolby CityTannerone episode2002SparkhouseConnortwo episodes2003The Afternoon PlayJonny Potterone episodeBurn ItKieron2004The RoyalEddie SpearsOutlawsDooey2005The BillAndrew Bishop2006–2013ShamelessShane Maguireone hundred and fourteen episodes2014CasualtyMike Marchone episode
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1998Emmerdale: RevengeRoy Glovervideo release2004MillionsScruffy young manuncredited2006To the See AgainScruffshort film2013Before DawnStephen2016The ContractDragonBucking HellNadashort film2017Attack of the Adult BabiesVlad2018NightshootersOddbod2021EvieJacob Eli2022Wolf ManorSam2024I Bring JoyPap guy
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