“EastEnders actor Max Murray, known for his role as Joel Marshall, has revealed a new hairstyle away from the BBC soap.”
EastEnders’ Max Murray, who plays Joel Marshall on the hit BBC soap, has debuted a new hairstyle, marking a clear break from his on-screen persona.
The young actor, who first appeared in Walford in March 2025 as the rebellious son of Ross Marshall (Alex Walkinshaw) and stepmother Vicki Fowler (Alice Haig), quickly made headlines for his character’s disturbing actions.
Joel’s introduction brought chaos to Albert Square, as he became entangled in misogynistic online content and began abusing women.
One particularly shocking storyline involved Joel recording an encounter with Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James), which later tied into her teenage pregnancy plot. He also crossed serious boundaries when he groped a woman on the Tube to impress Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall).
Joel Marshall’s campaign of harassment against Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) intensified when he revealed her past Secret Cam photos. His contempt for women escalated to a terrifying level when he violently attacked Vicki, recording the assault on his phone, according to OK! magazine.
Vicki was left devastated upon learning that Joel planned to plead not guilty to the assault, sending her into a downward spiral. At present, Joel is being held in a detention centre.
Away from his controversial on-screen persona, Max Murray recently thrilled fans with a personal update, unveiling a new hairstyle. On EastEnders, Joel’s hair is styled sleekly with a middle parting and face-framing layers, but Max has ditched his signature ‘curtains’ look for a sharper, shorter cut.
Sharing a series of photos on Instagram on Wednesday (January 14), he captioned them: “New headshot @ruthcrafer thank you,” prompting fans to shower him with compliments.
One admirer wrote: “You look so different from your Enders style,” while another commented: “Looking fresh, my boy.”
Others added: “Looking good. Didn’t recognise you,” and “Didn’t even recognise you! Looking good Max!”
“Wow, you look so different. Didn’t recognise you!” exclaimed one fan, with another summarising perfectly: “New era.”
Outside of acting, Max is the son of singer Gina Murray and the grandson of songwriter Mitch Murray, while also pursuing a successful music career of his own.
In September 2025, Max Murray took to Instagram to announce his latest single, “I Keep Fallin’ in Love.”
He shared: “It’s a song I’ve been holding onto for a while, and I’m so excited for you all to finally hear it. No agenda here, just wanted to share and bring a smile to as many faces as possible :)”
EastEnders’ Jessie Wallace, who plays Kat Moon, was quick to show her support, commenting with a series of high-five emojis and a heart. She was soon joined by Emma Barton, known for her role as Honey Mitchell, who also added a string of heart emojis to the post.
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