Charlie Cotton goes into a state of shock and disbelief on EastEnders next week as he struggles to cope with the repercussions of the recent car crash. With his new wife Ronnie Mitchell in a coma and her cousin Phil being framed for sabotaging the vehicle, Charlie doesnt know how to respond and ends up rejecting his newborn son. Here, Declan Bennett - who plays Charlie - offers his thoughts on the emotional time ahead. What was your reaction when you first found out what was going to happen on Charlie and Ronnies wedding day? I was shocked, although I think I was more shocked that we actually got married, because in my head I thought these two have a really chequered past. Obviously Id heard in advance that the car crash was going to happen, so in my head I thought Thats going to happen and were not going to get married. So I was more surprised that they actually got a ring on each others finger before the crash happened! What was it like filming the car crash stunt? It was cool! We did it quite a few times and the stunt people were the people that blew me away the most. Normally Id do my own stunts, but given that there was a car toppling on its side and bashing through some barriers, I thought Id let those guys do it! It was incredible to see the technical aspect of a stunt happen. But yeah, it was awesome, really fun to do. The exact details of who would be involved in the crash were kept under wraps. Have you found it difficult keeping such a huge storyline a secret? Yes, because nobody saw the crash coming. The whole point was that it was going to be a bit of a surprise. It was more about whats going on with your dad? People never in a million years thought that this crash was going to happen. I could talk to them about all the other stuff because they thought it was all going to be about family stuff, but in the back of my head I was thinking, You really dont know whats about to happen! Rather than difficult it was actually quite amusing. It was fun to help keep a big secret. What goes through Charlies mind when he learns that Phil is the main suspect behind the crash? He immediately goes into a state of disbelief which then turns into rage. Hes always had a problem with Phil and Phils always had a problem with him. When he learns that Phil is a potential suspect, it all sets into place for him and he thinks, Of course he did that because he never liked me to begin with. Phils been incredibly well framed by Nick, and on paper its absolutely believable that hes done it, so Charlie instantly wants to kill him. I think this is when we really see Charlies darker side come out, that hes got his father inside of him. So theres definitely lots of rage, lots of disbelief and just absolute shock and terror at whats happening. We see Charlie really struggling to connect with his newborn son. Whats going through his mind? So much has happened in such a short space of time. I think people imagine what their wedding is going to be like, they imagine what the reception is going to be like and they imagine what its going to be like when their baby is born. They project all of these lovely, positive emotions and feelings and images of what that day is going to be like. Half way through the reception, any images Charlie has dreamed up in his head are completely bashed and they no longer exist. I think he truly believes that his wife and his baby are going to die right there in front of him, so when his baby is actually born but Ronnies still lying there in a coma, he just goes into a very weird survival mode in that he becomes quite introverted and wants to protect himself because he feels like he cant do this without Ronnie. To see this baby thats been brought in amidst this horrible scenario is terrifying for him. I think hes just really struggling to feel any kind of connection to this child while shes lying there in a coma. Do you think deep down Charlie might know that Nick is really behind it? I dont think for a minute Charlie thinks his dad is behind it. I dont think it crosses his mind at all. Theres a lovely scene and you see a really soft side to Nick and hes there for his son in his hour of need. The horrible part is that you know as an audience member that Nicks the one whos actually caused it. But to see that connection between the two of them, and the possibility that the connection can actually exist, is a lovely part of their relationship that weve never seen before. What impact do you think the storyline is going to have on Charlie and the Cottons in the long run? Its really hard to predict with this one. Ive thought about it a hell of a lot! One of the central things is that we now have a new baby whos been brought into Albert Square and its a Mitchell-Cotton, so thats quite a family that that kid has been brought into! Its going to be really interesting to see these two families try to make sense of everything thats happened. If Ronnie comes out of this coma, theres a whole lot of stuff thats going to need to be dealt with and even Im not entirely sure where its going to go. What has it been like working with June Brown and John Altman? Brilliant! When I first got the job and they were telling me I was coming in as Nicks son and Dots grandson, that was the big pull for me to work with two people who played such big, iconic characters on the show. The two of them have been amazing. Junes been incredible and its been lovely working with John. It was amazing the first time John came on set. There was a real electricity in the air and everyone was like, Nicks back! Hes a lovely bloke and hes become a good friend. Has the experience of joining EastEnders been what you expected? Yes and no! Its a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Its a lot more challenging than I thought it was going to be, but its also a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be! Whats nice now is that Im coming up to being in the show for nearly a year and Im really starting to feel quite settled now. Im bonding with certain people and you really do start to connect with people, particularly the people you work with quite a lot. People like Sam, Rita, John and Pauline. Me and Pauline have such a laugh, shes such an amazing woman.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 00:54:48 +0000
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