Luke Jerdy's real name is Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy.
Luke Jerdy
The 'Hollyoaks' actor - who plays Jesse Donovan in the Channel 4 soap - has revealed he changed his first name to Luke, and took part of his second name to create a completely new moniker after hearing some advice that keeping his real name may "confuse casting directors".
He said: "My real name is Majid and I'm half-Iranian. I decided to change my name at drama school after hearing some advice that it might end up confusing casting directors.
"My middle name is Luke and my surname is Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy - I took Luke and Jerdy so that it's still like me."
The 28-year-old actor is dating his 'Hollyoaks' co-star Daisy Wood-Davis (Kim Butterfield) away from the Chester village, and he was recently left "jealous" after she shot scenes with singing legend Rick Astley, who is to make a cameo in the soap.
He added to Inside Soap magazine: "I was jealous, and they didn't even invite me. It was a stroke of genius to finally have him in the show, after all those months of Kim staring at a poster of him.
"To actually get the man himself to take part in 'Hollyoaks' - it was just really brilliant."
Rick was approached to appear in the programme after Daisy's alter-ego Kim spent months kidnapped in the school with only a poster of Rick to speak to for comfort.
The actress recently admitted she and the 'Never Gonna Give You Up' hitmaker have become best pals following the storyline.
She said: "We're just hanging out. We're bessies now. I've had the best night ever."
Rick, 52, added: "I haven't given her up and I haven't let her down."