He wowed audiences with his shocking and ‘spellbinding’ performance as an incel teenager on EastEnders – but now actor Max Murray is looking for pastures new.

The soap actor, 18, joined the BBC One soap earlier this year as troubled teen Joel Marshall, the son of Alex Walkinshaw’s Ross Marshall.

The father and son duo moved back to the UK from Australia after Joel was caught upskirting a female classmate, with dad Ross paying $50,000 in exchange for the horrified families’ silence.

His storyline has developed over his six-month stint on the show, with school-aged character Joel getting sucked in by ‘incel’ culture online.

While Joel was already engaging in misogynistic behaviour towards other residents of Albert Square, things escalated when he began watching videos from an influencer online who is part of the ‘Manosphere’, a series of website, blogs and videos promoting misogyny.

Max’s performance on the soap was culminated in a shock final scene earlier this month, which saw his character Joel attack Alice Haig’s Vicki Fowler and leave her for dead – fleeing the Square.

 

Now, it’s been revealed that Max is leaving the soap, and is already looking ‘for his next role’ after impressing viewers with his performance.

An insider told Metro: ‘Max is leaving EastEnders following an incredible year.

‘There’s still lots to come in the weeks ahead that will leave viewers on the edge of their seats.

‘Following his spellbinding performance, there’s no doubt that producers will be keen to snap him up – and Max is already on the lookout for his next role.’

Max’s shocking antics on the soap as character Joel left Walford residents rocked to the core – and fearful of his increasingly misogynistic behaviour.

The teen brutally attacked Vikki Marshall after she tried to get through to him after her played an extreme pornographic video in school.

In scenes inspired by Netflix’s Adolescence, Joel hacked his teacher’s computer to play the footage and then attacked fellow teen Amy Mitchell.

After informing her dad about the attack, Jack, Denise and Priya all confronted Joel’s dad Ross about his behaviour and he shockingly defended his son

He then privately told the teen off for his actions before Vikki sent him outside to avoid any violence between the father and son.

‘You know what, you can take your toxic masculinity and go and live with your mum,’ Vicki told Joel. ‘It is all a power trip and you know it.

‘You get off in making women feel small. That’s why you told me I needed a good slap. That’s not wrong? That’s not disgusting?’

She added: ‘Do you know how pathetic that is? How weak that makes you?

‘You are just a scared little boy who throws a tantrum when he doesn’t get his own way and it doesn’t matter what you hear on your stupid little videos because my eyes are open and I can see the truth.

‘You will never be a real man because you don’t even know what it means. You’re a pathetic little beta male, a silly little twerp.

‘And you should feel embarrassed, you should feel humiliated because I am so much stronger than you.’

In response to the telling off, Joel punched Vicki to the floor and proceeded to film her as she lay there bleeding.

The teen brutally continued to beat Vicki before eventually leaving the house.

The shocking world of incel culture was recently brought to the fore of British consciousness earlier this year through Netflix’s hit show Adolescence.

It centres around a teen boy, Jamie, who is accused of murdering one of his female classmates.

Through police interrogation, the horrifying truth of what really happened emerges over four episodes.

It shed a shocking light on the misogynistic world of incel culture and how it can inspire young men to commit acts of heinous violence.