Star actress: Lacey Turner arriving for the BAFTA television awards at the London Palladium
Lacey Turner had always thought herself quite fit - until she started working on her latest TV role.
The 24-year-old, most famous for playing troubled Stacey
Slater in EastEnders, portrays a young nail technician who signs up as a
soldier in the Royal Army Medical Corps in new one-off BBC drama Our
Girl.
“I spent quite a lot of time at [Army Training Centre]
Pirbright and I said to one of the corporals, ‘I’m quite fit, I exercise
every day’,” Turner explains.
“She said, ‘There’s civilian fit and Army fit’, and I thought, ‘OK... I need to get on the weights!’”
The actress, a petite 5ft 3in, admits the extra work-outs came in handy.
“I
tried to do everything as real as possible, so the weight [of the pack]
was as it would be for a young girl joining the army,” she says. “It’s
amazing that there’s no difference between the men and the ladies, it’s
the same for both.
“At some points you’re carrying about six stone
on your back and when you’re only eight stone, it’s like, ‘Oh dear, how
am I going to do this?’”
Over the course of filming, Turner saw
her body transform. “I finished with lots of muscles that I’d never had
in my life, don’t really know what to do with them. I had a really
muscly back and arms.”
Our Girl tells the inspirational story of
Molly Dawes, who has left school with no qualifications and has a
part-time job in a local nail bar. Her family is struggling financially,
and Molly’s prospects don’t look great.
Finding out her boyfriend
has been cheating on her is a harsh blow, and she ends up, on her 18th
birthday, getting drunk and throwing up in the doorway of the Army
Recruitment Office.
On a whim, Molly signs up for a test to join
the Army and, when she passes, is sent to an Army training camp where
she discovers a new purpose to life.
Turner explains: “She’s lived
in East Ham her whole life, she’s never really left it, never been
away, but she wants better for herself and sees an opportunity, thinking
she’s going to fail, but she goes on to become a really good soldier.”
When researching for the role, Turner spoke to real-life young female soldiers at Pirbright in Surrey.
“I
was very lucky to speak to girls who were my age and my build and going
through it,” she says. “I followed them through their 14 weeks’
training and found out why they’d joined and whether they’d ever wanted
to leave.
“A lot of the girls had thought they were going to end
up in a rubbish job, like Molly, who looked at her mum and thought, ‘I
don’t want to do that’.
“A couple said they just couldn’t get a
job and that really stayed with me because I thought - that’s not really
a big enough reason to risk your life, but if that’s what you want to
do...”
For the weapons training, there were “hours spent marching
round car parks” while she was scrutinised for accuracy by a corporal
who joined the cast and crew 24/7.
“If my thumb was out of place,
then he would say, ‘You have to do that one again’, and if there was one
tiny little thing I’d done wrong, he was watching.
“We just
wanted to get it as real as possible because the Army hate it so much
when they watch army programmes and it’s nothing like the real thing.
But they understand it’s telly.”
While Turner came away from the
experience with a new appreciation of how the armed forces can help
young people from different backgrounds, she wasn’t tempted to jack in
her acting career for a life of service.
“It’s really tough - you’ve got to be a certain type of person and I’m a wimp, so I’d be no good,” she admits.
Although
it’s now three years since she left EastEnders, London-born Turner is
still best known for playing Stacey Slater, a role for which she won
best actress four times at the British Soap Awards.
But, she reveals today, she never actually wanted to be an actress.
“It
was more like a hobby that sort of turned into a job,” she says
laughing, before adding that she’s stuck with her career choice now: “I
don’t have any qualifications to do anything else!”
As her
childhood home backed onto one of the EastEnders sets at Elstree
Studios, it almost seems inevitable she’d end up in Albert Square. She
made her first appearance in 2004, after she’d left school at the age of
16.
“I learned everything I know from there, so I’ve got a lot to
thank them for and I loved that job. But I was curious as to what else
was out there and what more I could achieve,” she says.
“Once I’m done with that, then you never know...”
It’s a tantalising hint that Stacey may return to the iconic soap, but Turner is not missing the hours.
“I
still speak to Jake Wood and Charlie Clements, but it’s so hard to meet
up because they work six days a week, 14 hours a day. It’s quite nice
[for me] now, I don’t know how I ever fitted anything in!
“It’s
nice having the freedom to do other things, even normal things like
going to the doctor and the dentist, they were hard to do when you
worked there. I do get bored, I like to keep working,” she adds.
Next
on her wish list is a period drama - for the costumes - and a spot of
theatre: “I’d just like to do more good work and discover more of the
industry. I’m ticking off my list as I go!”
'When Janine was a alcoholic and drug user fans would shout: ‘Can I have a line, can I have a sh*g?’.”"
Actress Charlie Brooks says she will never shake off the role of
Janine Butcher and will struggle to ever find other acting roles.
The
EastEnders star, who returned to the show last night, admitted she
finds it hard to get other work when she is not in the soap.
Charlie,
31, said: “I think there is typecasting and you probably do have to
convince people that you can come out of a soap that you can be other
things and be somebody else and it can be tough for us, but it is hard
for an audience to see past it, especially for a character like mine, to
see you as anything but Janine because I’ve played her for so long.”
Charlie
says people are so used to her being Janine that she gets drunken fans
come up to her in the street asking for sex and drugs.
Asked on
Channel4’s Chatty Man if she gets shouted at in the street, she added:
“I don’t get it so much now that I am older and we just have dinner
parties. I have got to that age, but yeah the classic lines and when she
was a alcoholic and drug user they’d shout: ‘Can I have a line, can I
have a sh*g?’.” The Butch is back: Charlie has returned to EastEnders
Fans of EastEnders saw Janine back on screen tonight, once again threatening to cause more trouble in Albert Square.
On
Janine’s return, I’m A Celebrity winner Charlie said: “She is coming
back a high-powered business woman and she’s coming back to get her
daughter and she’s got that on her mind and that only. So Michael Moon
is in for a fight. She is back as a bitch and that’s when I love playing
her. It’s like don’t mess with me. It is really fun.
“I’ve been
back for six or seven weeks now and it’s been really great and great to
see everyone. It’s nice to have a break because you come back all
refreshed.
“I love playing her because she is diverse but I just
don’t want people to get tired of her and I don’t want to get tired of
playing her.
“They do work us really long hours and especially
when you’re heavily story lined sometimes, you get tired. But it’s great
to be back as Janine.”
He's been played by no less than six different actors over the course of two decades.And
the latest star to step into the shoes of EastEnders character Peter
Beale is hunky newbie Ben Hardy, who has posed for a series of promo
shots ahead of his debut on June 7. Taking
over from Thomas Law, who left the show back in 2010, the 22-year-old
is set to breathe new life into the role of Ian and Cindy Beale's son,
who has been depicted on screen ever since being born in 1993.
Walford's newest addition: Ben Hardy will take over the well-known role of Peter Beale in EastEnders as of June 7
In a bid to inject some new
talent into the long-running soap, producers have signed the new actor
just months after his on-screen twin sister Lucy Beale was recast with
Hetti Bywater in the role.
Peter has been absent from
screens since his departure just over two years ago, when he was seen
leaving Albert Square to go and stay with his grandmother in Devon,
after falling out with dad Ian Beale. His return is sure to set pulsing racing
if the new pictures of actor Ben are anything to go by, perhaps
providing some competition for David Witts and Tony Disipline.
Taking over: Ben (L) will replace Thomas Law (R) who played the character from 2006 until his departure in 2010
Causing a stir: The 22-year-old actor will rejoin on-screen father Ian Beale, twin sister Lucy and half brother Bobby
The character will be reunited
with his on-screen dad, played by Adam Woodyatt, his twin sister and
little brother Bobby after his dramatic exit. The
role of Bobby has also been recast this year as producers were forced
to swap Alex Francis for Rory Stroud after the young actor bowed out to
concentrate on his school commitments. Speaking about the role, Ben said: 'I'm
really excited to be joining the fantastic cast of EastEnders - a show
which my family have watched for years.
Watch out girls! The actor is sure to set pules
racing, proving competition for other Walford hunks David Witts and Tony
Discipline
Sixth actor: Ben will be the sixth person to take on the character, who first hit screens in 1993
'I can't wait to step into the shoes of a character with so much history and am looking forward to getting stuck in,' he added. EastEnders'
executive producer Lorraine Newman said: 'Ben's a wonderful addition to
the EastEnders cast and I am sure he will be popular with the audience. 'Ian's
wonderful relationship with Denise and the inclusion of Lucy, Peter and
Bobby in the household will reinvigorate the clan with vibrancy and
energy. I am really looking forward to seeing them all together on
screen.'
Past Peters: Joseph Shade played the character from 1998-2004, followed by James Martin who took on the role from 2004-2006
Former Beale clan: Thomas played Peter in 2007,
pictured with Casey Anne Rothery who played Lucy and Aaron Sidwell who
played Steven
Double trouble: The blonde youngster was always in his twin sister's shadow, but things are set to change
She was recently forced to deny her
marriage to Lee Mead was on the rocks and rumours that she would be
joining EastEnders were swiftly shut down this week. But despite whatever may be going on in her life Denise Van Outen looked relaxed and happy on Saturday. Looking like she was ready for summer the 38-year-old stepped out smiling in her pale green trousers.
Chirpy: Denise Van Outen certainly looked in a good mood when she stepped out on Saturday
She teamed the slim fit
trousers which showed off her lean legs with a white T-shirt and a
necklace with a large bird pendant on it.
Over the top she wore a leather coat with fur trim, while on her feet she wore a pair of strappy flat sandals. Her long blonde hair was worn loose and she completed the look with her favourite trendy black shades.
Sensible dressing: Denise wore sandals but also kept warm with a fur collar on her leather jacket
It looked as if the radio star was
returning from a shopping trip as she carried a large bag from high
street store Zara with her. Earlier
this week the EastEnders press team took to Twitter to deny reports
that she would be joining the cast as the new landlady of the Queen
Vic. They wrote: ‘There is
absolutely no truth whatsoever in today's reports that #EastEnders is
in talks with Denise Van Outen with a view to casting her.’
On her own: Denise wasn't joined by her husband or her daughter for the trip
Initial rumours, which reached
fever pitch on Wednesday evening, suggested that the star- who has
three-year-old daughter Betsy with husband Lee Mead - had been in a
string of secret meetings with soap bosses. Reports
suggested that programme chiefs saw her as a ‘new, young and fresh’
Peggy Mitchell, the former Queen Vic landlady and Walford matriarch who
was played by Barbara Windsor. Denise - who has been asked to appear on the soap twice before - has previously admitted she would love to join the BBC show. But
while it was clearly not to be this time, Denise certainly didn’t look
too concerned about it either way as she went about her business.
Training: Denise was spotted training earlier
this week as she gears up to take part in The Great Wall of China Trek
later this year
Former EastEnders actress Danniella
Westbrook has opened up about a drug debt which resulted in her being
kidnapped and gang raped. Addressing the traumatising event for the first time, the 39-year-old reveals her ordeal lasted for 48 hours back in the 90s. After
being kidnapped for owing ‘silly money’ for cocaine, the actress who
was at the height of her career at the time said: ‘They all raped me and
took it in turns.’
Ordeal: Danniella Westbrook has opened up about being gang raped back in the 90s
The
event, which is documented in her new autobiography, Faith, Hope And
Clarity, occurred after the gang, to who she owed £5,000, showed up at
her house to try and claim it back.
But, unable to pay such a high sum she was kidnapped and taken to a ground-floor flat nearby. Daniella reveals that she was then given drugs and alcohol for 12 hours straight before things took an even nastier turn.
Trauma: The incident occurred back in the 90s when she was at the height of her career in EastEnders
She said: ‘I know all three of them did different things. Repeatedly. They all forced themselves on me.’ Unable to escape because she was too high on drinks and drugs, she admits she felt there ‘was no point resisting’. She
continued: ‘For them, a two-day drugs and sex binge. For me a life-time
sentence. Each time I lay there and let them get on with it.
Putting it behind her: Danniella let loose at her recent book launch after speaking about the incident for first time
‘I tried to mask it out, tried to pass out. There was no point resisting. Not with three of them.’ Following
the incident she was thrown on the street without any way to call for
help and too scared to tell anyone she kept it a secret up until very
recently, not even telling the police. Like
many victims she believed she was to blame for what happened because of
her cocaine addiction – on which she thought she could have spent
£250,000 on over the years.
Born again: These days Danniella has her life on track after battling with drug addiction in the past
Her family only became aware
of what had occurred earlier this year, ahead of the release of her book
-Faith, Hope And Clarity- last week. Fortunately she tested clear for any STI’s and HIV but the incident has had a more lasting effect on her. The
born again Christian admits she still struggles to watch sex attacks on
TV and she doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to completely forget what
happened during those 48 hours. Speaking
recently about juggling her faith with her fame, the actress said: 'I
have given my life to the Lord. If you had told me two years ago that I
was going to be Christian, I would have laughed. 'I used to tell people, "I'm way past saving". 'But the first time I came to this church, I felt something so spiritual and amazing that I wanted to cry.'
Some of the events in this week’s EastEnders were – unlike the characters – a bit rich. Lola received some advice on pulling herself together from Sharon. Sharon was branded an addict - by Phil. And Lauren was warned about becoming too reliant on drink by Tanya and Patrick.
Troubled: Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) is boozing again... alone... in a shed
Lauren also had a lecture on
muvvering from, of all people, Cora, who gave away one of her children,
and was persona non grata to Tanya for years. ‘Now
listen to me young lady,’ Cora admonished her. ‘You’re going to be a
muvver yourself one day. And you’re going to worry yourself sick about
your kids. You’re going to be consumed with worry. You’re going to worry when they’re tiny and they get a cold. And worry when they grow up and they get cancer.’ Look on the bright side eh ?
Hardly surprisingly most of their words weren’t particularly effective. Admittedly,
Lola did win supervision of Lexi – poor thing. (Lexi that is, although
in time, the same could probably be said for her too.) This was, supposedly, partly down to Abi, who lent Lola a teddy bear charm. ‘I’ve
had him since I’ve been little and he’s lucky,’ Abi beamed, although
you couldn’t really say Abi’s life has seemed blessed with much luck. ‘Whenever
I’ve been worrying about exams he’s been there,’ she continued,
although this was because he was chained to a key ring.
Pot calling the kettle? Phil Mitchell (Steve McFadden) calls Sharon Rickman (Letitia Dean) an addict
The fact that Lola ended up so grateful to Sharon was also slightly ironic – or nonsensical.
The
last time Lola was in court, Phil ended up winning custody of her baby,
partly because Sharon had connived with him to paint a picture of his
happy home life. And over
the last month, Lola has been agonising over her discovery that Sharon
was ‘off her ‘ead’ on pills while she was looking after Lexi. Then this week, when Phil told her
that Sharon wasn’t attending the hearing, rather than seeing it as a vindication, she
treated it as a disaster. Inevitably,
Sharon – veering between Walford’s rock with a heart of gold and a
duplicitous basket case – turned up and saved the day. So did Phil. ‘I
couldn’t think of anyone who could do a better job,’ he told the court
about Lola’s capability to look after Lexi, although that wasn’t saying
much when the alternative was him and Sharon. He
had found Baby Lexi looking after Sharon’s pills for her while she had
‘passed aht’. Phil had then gone suitably ballistic - although this is
his stock response to most things. He
took Lexi to Lola’s, sent Denny off on a sleep-over and then set about
interrogating Sharon, dismantling her excuses in a manner that suggested
all his years being questioned by the police had paid dividends.
Heartbroken: Lauren's ex-boyfriend Joey isn't interested in them reconciling
Sharon confounded her crime by
protesting too much. She claimed the pills were only painkillers and
also that they had sent her to sleep. ‘They’ve never ‘ad this effect on me before !’ she cried and certainly they seemed to have made her acting worse than ever. ‘You
weren’t asleep, you wuz out of it !’ accused Phil, before moving his
cross examination on to the fact that, as the bottle had no label, they
were clearly not prescription drugs. Shar'
tried to adopt the moral high ground (‘what’s with all the questions ? I
feel like I’m getting the third degree here and I don’t like it !’) but
frankly she did herself no favours. She admitted the pills hadn’t come from a doctor, even an American one. ‘I met this bloke down the club and he said he could get me some’ wasn't the best defence. She added: ‘he’s not a dealer and these ain’t drugs, not really.’ In what way ?! Detective
Inspector Mitchell shattered her offer to flush them away by telling
her he used to do the same thing when he was an addict.
‘Do you know why ? Cos all the time I had a load more waiting for me.’ Then, like a big bald sniffer dog, he tipped her bag out and found more. He accused her of being an addict – to pills as well as the lip gloss. ‘I ain’t doing it Sharon. I lived with a junkie once...’ ‘I’m not a junkie !’ she cried. ‘I lived with a junkie who told everyone else that he wasn’t a junkie...’ he countered. ‘I want you aht.’ And
with that, despite her rather desperate impression of John McEnroe
(‘you can’t be serious’), he pushed her out into the square. Meanwhile, people were queuing up to lay into Lauren, like that scene in Airplane with the nuns. Joey, Abi, Cora... they all had a go. ‘You’re a bright girl Lauren,’ her Uncle Jack reassured her. ‘You’re really talented.’ Yeah, at drinking! Tanya
asked Lauren if she remembered the night before, and her mum holding
her hair back while Lauren was sick on bathroom floor.Happy days! But Tanya’s concern didn’t last long.
Drinking pal: Lauren ends up playing truth or dare with Patrick
She told Jack Lauren’s drinking was ‘just teenage stuff’...When I was her age, I was always on the lash.’ She still is! When
Lauren went out for dinner at her imaginary friend Hannah’s house,
intelligently Tanya gave her some money - for some chocolates, she
suggested, adding brightly, ‘or a nice bottle of wine.’ Any bottle of wine is a nice bottle of wine to Lauren ! ‘Lauren’s a good girl,’ Tanya told Sharon later (as they had a drink at The Vic). ‘I think she’s really turned a corner.’
This
at least was true. She had turned the corner at the end of the square
and instead of her imaginary friend Hannah’s house, headed for her
grandad’s old shed to neck her bottle of wine, only to find out this was
where Patrick went for a quiet drink too. It
was like a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous in there – except we knew
who they were and they weren’t trying to give up. On the contrary, they
gathered together to have a big drink. Like contestants on Big Brother, within minutes Lauren and Patrick were playing Truth Or Dare. Lauren explained why she drank so heavily.She had just broken up with the boy she was in love with, he wouldn’t return her calls and she had no friends.
‘My whole life is rubbish really.’ Apart from that, things were fine.Maybe she should have borrowed her sister’s lucky teddy. There was a rare shot of someone in EastEnders (Patrick) pouring away alcohol - mind you he had probably had some rum on him. Lauren went home to confess all to her mother. ‘Have you been drinking ?’ Tanya asked, sharp as a tack. ‘Everyone has a drink,’ Lauren argued, which was a fair point – especially in this series. ‘Not on their own, in a shed they don’t !’ Tanya pointed out – which was too. ‘Lauren, are you sure this isn’t a problem ?’ her mother demanded. ‘Why are you doing this ?’ ‘Because
I want to ! It’s my choice,’ Lauren reasoned. ‘And I like it. I’m not
going to stop and there’s nothing you can do about it !’ And so it was official. Lauren drinks too much. As bombshells go, unlike all the alcohol they had all had, it was pretty weak stuff.
She teamed the slim fit
trousers which showed off her lean legs with a white T-shirt and a
necklace with a large bird pendant on it.
Initial rumours, which reached
fever pitch on Wednesday evening, suggested that the star- who has
three-year-old daughter Betsy with husband Lee Mead - had been in a
string of secret meetings with soap bosses.
