After appearing in several minor television credits in the early 1990s, including comedies
Only Fools and Horses and
Birds of a Feather, it was in 1996 that Opacic got his big break when he was cast in
Emmerdale as
Steve Marchant, a new love interest for
Kim Tate. Opacic enjoyed several high-profile storylines in his time on the show, before his character was axed by producer Kieran Roberts in 1999. Opacic's stint in
Emmerdale led to later appearances in
Heartbeat,
Doctors and
Peak Practice before he joined
ITV prison drama
Bad Girls in 2001 at the beginning of its third series playing officer Mark Waddle. Opacic left the series the following year and last appeared at the end of the fourth series. In the ensuing years he appeared in several minor roles in programmes such as
Cold Feet,
The Bill and
Totally Frank. In 2006, he joined the cast of the new
BBC drama
The Chase in a supporting role and remained with the show until it was cancelled in 2007. Further television credits include
The Royal,
Holby City and most recently
Waterloo Road, in which he portrayed the neglectful father of one of the school pupils
Finn Sharkey. In early 2010, it was stated that
Lucy Allan had quit the position of executive producer of
Hollyoaks and that
Paul Marquess had taken over the role. It was soon announced that Marquess planned to give the soap a "shake up". He cast Opacic in a new central family in the soap opera, stating he would play the role of
Carl Costello. He stayed in the soap until 2013, and made a two-episode guest stint in 2018. In 2021, he was cast in the ITV soap opera
Coronation Street as villain
Stefan Brent. Opacic is of
Croatian and
English heritage. ==Filmography==