Michael Socha's life away from spotlight - from famous sister to scary 'stabbing' incident

Michael Socha is taking a leading role in the new series of the BBC's Showtrial as PC Justin Mitchell, a serving officer accused of killing a climate protestor in a hit-and-run incident.

Michael has racked up an impressive list of credits during his career, including This Is England, Being Human, Chernobyl and The Gallows Pole. Away from the cameras, however, the star's life hasn't been easy with the star previously admitting to the Telegraph that he was "stabbed in the head" during an altercation.

Here's everything you need to know about Michael from his famous sister to the stabbing incident…

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Family

Michael isn't the only actor in his family as he's the older brother of BAFTA-award winning actress Lauren Socha. Lauren's biggest role was as Kelly Bailey in E4's Misfits, for which she won her BAFTA for.

Lauren has also appeared in Five Daughters, The Other One and Unloved, in which she starred in with her brother. However, Michael has shared that he plans not to work with his sister again in the future.

"When me and Lauren are [acting] together, it just doesn't work," he told the Mirror. "We did a show called The Unloved together – I was a residential care worker and she was a kid in care and Lauren couldn't stop laughing."

Upbringing

Michael has been open about his difficult upbringing and speaking to the Guardian, he revealed that he and his friends would get into trouble while hanging around town in Derby.

When asked if he fell in with the wrong crowd, he said: "No, I was the wrong people. Me and my lot, it was very violent. A lot of fighting, drink and drugs around, it weren't a very nice place. None of us were from conventional families, we'd all been in the [expletive].

"Our childhoods were just general violence, a place where you couldn't back down from a fight, you had to fight. It was constant, all the [expletive] time: battles here, or that bloke's after you, or called you whatever, and you'd have to sort that out. Derby was a battleground."

Stabbing

In an interview with the Telegraph, Michael revealed that he was once stabbed in Derby while he was a jobbing actor. Speaking about the incident, which took place after he had left a pub with his friends, he said: "I ended up getting stabbed in the head. I had to work on all these [expletive] jobs with a face that was ballooned."

He added: "Well, it didn't go through my skull. An altercation happened between my friend and another lad, and then I just remember waking up with one of my friends crying above me."

Michael revealed that the blade had hit him above his ear, while he also carried a bump from a dog chain on his forehead.

Children

Although Michael is incredibly private about his personal life, the star has revealed that he is a father-of-three. His eldest child, Elis, still lives in Derby, while his younger children are based in south London.

Speaking about parenthood, he told the Telegraph: "My mum's never been impressed by a film set. I think she's just happy that I'm a good father to my kids."