Hollyoaks: Keith Rice on male rape storyline, Finn's future
Hollyoaks actor Keith Rice takes centre stage in a hard-hitting storyline next week as the Channel 4 soap explores the issue of male rape.
Upcoming episodes see John Paul McQueen (James Sutton) discover that Rice's character Finn O'Connor and troublesome Robbie Roscoe have been involved in an attempted robbery. When Robbie orders his friend to keep John Paul quiet, Finn sexually assaults the teacher as he tries to stay in control of the situation.
The attack itself takes place off-screen, but will spark a long-running story which explores the consequences for both victim and perpetrator.
Digital Spy recently caught up with Keith to hear his thoughts on the dark plot and what's ahead.
Can you tell us about the research you've done for this storyline?
"Myself and James both dedicated ourselves to the storyline when our producer Bryan Kirkwood told us about it. As an actor, it's natural to want to do as much research as possible. We both worked with a company in Manchester called Survivors and its founder Duncan Craig, and he was absolutely brilliant. He was so open and he told us a lot of truths about the issue.
"Naturally you have your worries and your concerns, but Duncan answered absolutely everything. We found out not only about the victim's point of view but also the perpetrator's point of view, and after what Duncan told us, we both felt comfortable to really ease ourselves into our roles and the scenes. A lot of research also went on from the whole team at Hollyoaks - it's brilliant that everyone has put so much time and effort into it."
It's an issue many of us don't know much about, so did anything in the research particularly surprise you?
"Quite a lot came up in the research that was eye-opening. To a lot of people, what actually goes on in these cases isn't really known. I personally didn't really understand the mindset of a rapist, but what I found out was that it's not sexually-driven - instead the majority of male rapes are basically men taking away someone else's manliness. There's no sexual meaning behind the rape at all, and for me that's a massive help, because Finn isn't gay.
"In the storyline, Finn's actions are much more to do with power, status and making a grown man feel so powerless and worthless. Finn wants to be in control of the situation, when he's never been able to do that before.
"In the scenes coming up, you see a complete change in Finn. We've already seen signs that Finn wants to go further than Robbie does, which is leading up to what happens next."
How do you feel about taking on such a serious storyline?
"With everyone at work and at home, I've got the right people around to support me, so I feel comfortable enough to do the role. As long as everything is done right and we all come together, I believe we can make really good drama - and I think that's what we've done so far."
It's a surprising direction for Finn, so how did you feel about that?
"When I first joined Hollyoaks, I played Finn as the nervous kid who always stood in the background, but I believe that I can take Finn on a really brilliant journey from when I first joined to what we've got coming up.
"Bryan has given me some great episodes to take Finn on that journey and I'm grateful that he's given me that time and the dedication."
What can you tell us about the aftermath of the rape? Does Finn have any regrets about what he's done to John Paul?
"Finn doesn't understand what he's done. From his point of view, he's only assaulted John Paul. Finn doesn't feel that he's sexually assaulted him and he doesn't understand the full implications. He only feels the consequences will be that John Paul won't say anything to him anymore, and that he'll always be in control of John Paul. Finn feels that he doesn't have to go after John Paul again and hurt him even more, because of what he's done.
"That's what Finn gets an adrenaline kick from - the feeling that John Paul is literally paralysed by shock and fear, so it's the student who's now in control rather than the teacher. Finn gets such a rush from knowing that he's in control of a grown man, so he doesn't really understand the full consequences of what he's done.
"There are also scenes after the rape where Finn doesn't blame himself - he blames John Paul for putting himself in the situation. Finn's only 16, so he's never going to understand the full picture."
As a young actor, have any of the scenes been challenging to play?
"I'm only 19 years of age and I think that a lot of people have to wait a long time for a really good storyline to arise. For me, I'm just so pleased that Bryan has seen enough of me on screen to put trust in me to do this storyline. When you have that belief and trust around you, I think that really helps you to ease into a role.
"It hasn't really been a case of finding the scenes challenging, it's more that going home and switching off afterwards has been challenging. When I'm on set filming the scenes, me and James get along really well, so there's nothing to be worried or scared about. I also wouldn't have put myself in the acting industry if I was going to turn a storyline down, so I'm completely comfortable with everything we've done."
What have James and Charlie Wernham (Robbie) been like to work with on the storyline?
"James and Charlie have both been fantastic. James is a Liverpool fan like me, so every moment that we get to switch off from doing the scenes, we're talking about football. I hadn't worked with James much before this, so it's always great to work with someone new. Charlie's also a really good lad - I've worked with him ever since I joined the show, so we have a really good relationship."
What do you think of the decision to explore the issue of male rape on a show like Hollyoaks?
"I think it's absolutely brilliant that Hollyoaks are doing the storyline. When we spoke to Duncan, we found out that these cases still happen now but people don't really understand the issue. We do get a lot of viewers for Hollyoaks and I believe the audience figures have increased recently, so we hope we've done a good enough job so that people will watch and have a better understanding of what does go on."
What does this mean for Finn's future on the show? Is there still a long journey ahead?
"This is literally only the start of the bullying campaign. In the last two months on screen, you've seen the start of what will be a long and really horrific bullying campaign that carries on after the rape, so I'm not going anywhere yet."
How supportive have your on-screen family members like Alex Fletcher (Diane) been?
"They've all been fantastic and everyone has been so supportive. Alex Fletcher has been a massive help. I've had scenes after the rape where it gets really tense on screen, because Finn is hiding what he's done. There's a scene where it's Finn's birthday and the family are celebrating, but Finn has just raped John Paul.
"For us to film those scenes was really horrific, but off-screen Alex is a lovely woman and she's really helped me settle in the show since I started. She's still helping me now and gives me little bits of advice, so I'm learning every day on set. I think this is the best place to learn your craft."
Hollyoaks airs weeknights at 6.30pm on Channel 4, with first look screenings at 7pm on E4.