Stalked ... Sophie, played by Bridgette Sneddon, seems set to kill husband Nate, played by Kyle Pryor. Picture: Channel 7 Source: Channel 7

Pryor, who plays Dr Nate Cooper on Home and Away, has made no bones about wanting to appear in a Marvel movie and even star as James Bond.

KYLE PRYOR: Path to stardom began in cramped share house in England

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The 31-year-old Pryor would be the perfect action hero.

He is a former stuntman, trained in scuba diving, has a black belt in taekwondo and knows firearm techniques.

Pryor, based for many years in New Zealand, has already unleashed the six-pack in TV series Spartacus — Blood and Sand after stunt work on movies The Warrior’s Way and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

Right now, though, Pryor is facing a very different challenge as Home and Away tackles one of its most incendiary storylines.

Intense cliff-hanger ... Nate, played by Kyle Pryor, tries to reason with his mentally ill estranged wife Sophie, played by Bridgette Sneddon. Picture: Channel 7. Source: Channel 7

The soapie’s 90-minute cliffhanger tonight shows the horror of love gone wrong. It comes at a time when addiction, mental health issues and family violence are rife in Australian society.

Nate’s estranged wife Sophie Taylor (Bridgette Sneddon) has already tried to overdose on pills and burn down her caravan. In the finale, she goes much further when she attacks Nate with a murder/suicide on her mind.

Cliffhanger finale ... Kyle Pryor with Bridgette Sneddon who plays his character Nate’s mentally ill wife Sophie. Source: News Corp Australia

“Working on Home and Away is definitely a big change,” Pryor says. “My previous acting work had been on medieval fantasies and was very physically based.”

Sophie has been in mental free-fall since she was injured in a car accident and became addicted to painkillers. When Nate found out she was stealing drugs from his workplace, the marriage broke down.

Nate, who is just starting his medical career at Northern Districts Hospital, gets a shock when Sophie comes to Summer Bay as the new school principal.

Things sour as Nate finds a photo of the pair on their wedding day under his door with “Til Death Us Do Part” written on the back. Later, Sophie stalks Nate while he’s at the beach.

Sophie concocts an emergency to trap Nate in her motel room and knocks him unconscious. She douses the room with petrol and when Nate regains consciousness, Sophie is pacing the room holding a lit candle.

’Tid death us do part” ... Sophie (Bridgette Sneddon) is about to knock her husband, Dr Nate Cooper (Kyle Pryor) unconscious in the season finale of Home and Away. Picture: Channel 7. Source: Channel 7

These are intense scenes, especially for a 7pm family drama, and they had a profound impact on British-born Pryor.

“We did 12 or 13 scenes in that day and it was a big challenge emotionally as well as technically,” Pryor says.

“I felt a strong sense of responsibility in playing that (scenes involving mental instability and violence).”

The drama doesn’t stop there. Nate diffuses the situation by telling Sophie they will run away and make a fresh start. When they are driving back, Sophie realises the ruse and swerves the car into the path of a bus.

The bus, with pregnant Ricky (Bonnie Sween), Sasha (Demi Harman), Kyle (Nic Westaway), Evelyn (Philippa Northeast), Denny (Jessica Grace Smith), Hannah (Cassie Howarth), and Leah (Ada Nicodemou) on board, leaves the road and rolls.

Who will survive?

Final episode of year ... The bus leaves the road after swerving to miss Sophie and Nate. Picture: Channel 7. Source: Channel 7

Hollywood is a long-term ambition but Pryor says he’s happy where he is for now. “(When I got the role) I was getting ready to move back to the UK in the hope of finding work. It was dire straits. It (joining Home and Away) was definitely the right decision.

“It is giving me the building blocks I need as an actor.”

* For support call Lifeline 131 114

> Home and Away, Channel 7, Wednesday, 7pm

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CLIFF HANGERS

Sherlock: Season 2

Moriarty’s ludicrously complicated plan to force Sherlock to commit suicide (involving Moriarty killing himself first) sees the great detective plummet to his doom off a building. Is he dead? Of course not.

Melrose Place: Season 3

Traumatised and looking for vengeance after being served with divorce papers by her love rat husband, resident psychopath Kimberly blows up the apartment block.

A Place To Call Home: Season 1

After paying off local thug Bert to keep him quiet about his son James’ sexuality, George is incensed when Bert attempts to blackmail him for more dosh. Shortly after Bert’s body is found floating in the river.

All Saints: Season 10

The emergency department is held at gunpoint by three intruders. A ticking time bomb is planted in the pathology lab …. Who will live, who will die, etc.

Friends: Season 4

The on again off again Ross and Rachel relationship rears its head once more when Ross, about to wed Emily, mistakenly says: “I take thee Rachel …”