Perry Fenwick, a star of EastEnders, remarked that hearing actors lament about their “punishing” production schedules “gives him the hump.”
The actor who portrays Billy Mitchell talked about what it’s like to be a part of one of the nation’s most watched soap operas, focusing on the latest plotline of the BBC One serial in which Lola Pearce, Billy’s granddaughter, tragically perished.
Longer hours were unavoidable for the actors who were at the focus of the epic, passionate, and moving story, which won critical praise.
Perry talked about what it was like to be a part of such a story and was eager to defend the demanding work schedule.
He said on Kathy Burke’s podcast Where There’s A Will There’s A Wake, “It gives me the hump when I hear actors say ‘gruelling’ and ‘punishing’ schedules and things like that.”
You can work six-day weeks and long, twelve to thirteen-hour days, but it usually doesn’t last that long until you take a vacation or start buying a pint at the Vic for a few months.
Perry quickly added that you ‘couldn’t carry on’ at such a rate, especially considering the emotions of the in question tale, even as he defended the intense filming schedule.
Because there were two layers going on there, he said, “We knew it was going to be tough anyway.” Danielle Harold, a stunning and extraordinarily gifted woman, began the programme as a young woman rather than a small child.
“I don’t have any children, but to me she’s been like a daughter.”
“So, when we knew that this story would take place, there was this thing going on wherein my character Billy was losing his granddaughter and Perry was losing his daughter, and it got harder and harder,” the author explains.
“You would look at the script when you arrived at work every day, and it was just punishing.”
Monday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, EastEnders airs.
