A YOUNG actor has made his big screen debut in One Night in Istanbul - which is based on the 2005 Champions League final.

Ryan Muldoon, 21, who was brought up in St Helens and lives in Newton-le-Willows, has starred in television programmes including Shameless and Waterloo Road, but this is his first feature film.

The independent film, based on a group of men travelling to Turkey to watch their beloved Liverpool football club play in the final, was directed by James Marquand, from Wales, whose father Richard directed Star Wars sequel Return of the Jedi.

It follows two Liverpool cabbies, Tommy and Gerry, who strike a deal with a local gangster to take their sons to watch their football side play in Istanbul. But trouble awaits in the form of a gang of ruthless criminals and a huge stash of stolen cash.

The 93-minute long comedy also stars Steven Waddington, who played a supporting role in Last of the Mohicans, Paul Barber, who played Denzel in Only Fools and Horses and starred in the Full Monty, and Lucien Laviscount, who plays Jonah Kirby in Waterloo Road.

The movie had its premiere at the Liverpool One Odeon last on September 10 and went on general release on September 11.