EastEnders star Danielle Harold feared her brain tumour storyline was given to the wrong character as she raised questions about how the audience felt about Lola Pearce.
The actress, 30, made her debut as Lola back in 2011 and is now set to say goodbye to the BBC soap as the character will lose her battle with a terminal brain tumour.
Discussing Lola’s death, EastEnders’ Executive Producer Chris Clenshaw admitted he battled with the decision but insisted Lola deserved to have a memorable exit.
READ MORE: EastEnders star says Lola’s death is ‘hardest thing he’s done’ after real-life tragedy
“It’s incredibly difficult because none of us want to say bye to Lola and none of us want to say goodbye to Danielle,” he told Daily Star and other press.
(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
He added: “But that’s the character that Danielle has created and is so well loved and you can only really tell a story like this with a character that is so well loved.”
Danielle admitted she had reservations to begin with because she wasn’t sure how the audience felt about Lola.
“But when you told me that I was like, ‘I don’t think she is. I think you’ve picked the wrong person,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t think you’re going to get this big thing that you want because it’s me’,” she explained.
(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
The actress continued: “I don’t know if I’m that loved by the audience. So for me it’s been so overwhelming because I never felt like that character that Chris thought I was but Chris saw that in me.”
She went on to thank the BBC boss for giving her this kind of exit and allowing her to fulfil Lola’s journey before she left.
“I can’t thank Chris enough for giving me the best exit. I can’t thank him enough for the way that it’s been done,” Danielle said.
(Image: BBC / Kieron McCarron)
The star continued: “And it’s not just been the exit. It’s been from when Chris made the decision, he let me play out all of Lola’s life in the space of a very short time.
“I’ve been at the soap for so many years but we’ve not really dug into Lola at all over all these years.”
The soap star went on to say: “So to be able to find out her whole life has been pretty amazing for me to play.
“There’s been so many different things that I’ve always wondered about Lola so it’s been such a lovely journey to fulfil before I go.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
