Perdita
21-11-2008, 12:56
Hollyoaks favourite Guy Burnet - Craig Dean in the soap - returns to screens next week for a special bank of late-night spinoff episodes on E4. Hollyoaks - Later sees Craig whisk his sister Steph (Carley Stenson) off to a remote location for a break from the norm back in Hollyoaks village. However, the pair aren't prepared for nutty Niall's (Barry Sloane) appearance. Tragedy strikes, however, in the fourth episode when either Niall or Craig plummets to their death from a cliff top. Here, DS chats to Guy about Later, drawing a line under his Hollyoaks experience, and Pete the naturist.
How did you first hear about Hollyoaks - Later?
"I was filming my TNT project over in America and I got a phone call from Lucy Allan, who's the new producer of Hollyoaks and a good friend of mine, and she said that she really wanted to use me in the late-night eps they were planning. The initial idea was to have a Craig/John Paul storyline in Dublin but both James and myself felt that the story was now over. Lucy re-approached me a few weeks later with this great story involving Niall. It's based on content rather than sex and swearing. It's trial and error with the late nights. There have been about eight of them and I'd say that all of them bar one have been poor. I think they've learned from past mistakes and have seen that you need story content to keep the audiences engaged."
Where does Craig fit into it all?
"The story I have involves Niall [Rafferty], Steph [Cunningham] and Tom [Cunningham]. We're in this amazing location - which we filmed in Wales, but it's set it Scotland - and it culminates in tragedy. Steph's going through this hard time and Craig phones her up to see if she wants to get away somewhere. We go off to this cottage in the middle of nowhere, no phone signal, no nothing. Then there's an unwanted visitor who turns up to find Steph. Once you get into the third and fourth episodes, it's action-packed. There's a cliff-top tussle and one of us dies. I wanted it to be a conclusion of my stuff. I think a lot of people think that I perhaps wouldn't be [killed off] but I can't tell you! You'll have to wait and see."
How come there's no John Paul?
"Basically, Craig comes over [from Ireland] and the only explanation that John Paul's not there is that he's in Dublin doing a lot of DJ gigs. The trip was just for me to go away for a bit with my sister. Craig and John Paul are going through a little bit of a rough patch but nothing serious. It's just a genuine relationship with the ups and downs."
There's quite a freaky naturist, isn't there?
"That's the Hollyoaks late-night nudity! The guy who played Pete the naturist, he's called Martin McCormick. He's a lovely guy and was great to work with."
Was he actually stood there naked?
"Pretty much. He just has a bit of a leaf on his willy. That was about it. There was always something there to cover him up for the camera, but not for our eyes! Our eyes were abused!"
Didn't you have a Hollywood cameraman for the cliff scenes?
"Yeah. They brought in these guys who did the Bourne Ultimatum - the stunt stuff is amazing. We pretty much all did our own stunts. The weather was so severe on some days when we were doing fight sequences and falling off the cliff, we were all wired up. The camera goes flying down the cliff with us. We had to wrap because of the dangerous weather. Then we went back two weeks later and Barry and I had to co-ordinate our own fight sequences. Lucy Allan was amazing producing it, too. She's very much open to ideas and she was always there on set, making sure everything's right."
Will you continue to make reappearances in Hollyoaks or do you want to leave Craig Dean behind?
"I love Hollyoaks, but I see the late-night as a full stop. It was a really important thing for me to do because when I went back to finish the John Paul/Craig storyline, if it wasn't for Bryan, James and the McDeaners, I wouldn't have done it in a million years. When I went back to do it, I had a lot of days where I was really regretting agreeing to do it because I prefer leaving things open to people's imaginations. I think it ended in a good place initially and if it was my choice, I'd have ended it when I originally left. Hollyoaks is amazing, but you have to take a step away. Sometimes if you know that the door's still open, it's kind of uncomfortable because you're aware that that opportunity's there. I wouldn't want to go back to Hollyoaks in a regular role."
What's your reaction to the news that Bryan's stepping down as producer?
"Everyone seems to come up with a clichéd kiss-ass segment for this bit, but I want to genuinely say that Bryan is amazing. He's done so much for Hollyoaks, along with Lucy, Carolyn Reynolds and Tony Wood. Bryan spear-headed what was a revolution in Hollyoaks. Suddenly, we had decent actors doing decent drama. He really took the show places. In my opinion, you still get the silly things like releasing a perfume. I guess it's part of Hollyoaks and maybe it takes away some of the continually improving drama on screen. Bryan's managed to begin the revolution of moving the stereotype away from all that. He gave birth to the John Paul and Craig storyline and countless other ones. I think Bryan's made the right decision [to leave]. He's taken the show so far, but I think that to take it to the next level, it needs a fresh face. Lucy's the natural progression - she'll do an amazing job."
How did you first hear about Hollyoaks - Later?
"I was filming my TNT project over in America and I got a phone call from Lucy Allan, who's the new producer of Hollyoaks and a good friend of mine, and she said that she really wanted to use me in the late-night eps they were planning. The initial idea was to have a Craig/John Paul storyline in Dublin but both James and myself felt that the story was now over. Lucy re-approached me a few weeks later with this great story involving Niall. It's based on content rather than sex and swearing. It's trial and error with the late nights. There have been about eight of them and I'd say that all of them bar one have been poor. I think they've learned from past mistakes and have seen that you need story content to keep the audiences engaged."
Where does Craig fit into it all?
"The story I have involves Niall [Rafferty], Steph [Cunningham] and Tom [Cunningham]. We're in this amazing location - which we filmed in Wales, but it's set it Scotland - and it culminates in tragedy. Steph's going through this hard time and Craig phones her up to see if she wants to get away somewhere. We go off to this cottage in the middle of nowhere, no phone signal, no nothing. Then there's an unwanted visitor who turns up to find Steph. Once you get into the third and fourth episodes, it's action-packed. There's a cliff-top tussle and one of us dies. I wanted it to be a conclusion of my stuff. I think a lot of people think that I perhaps wouldn't be [killed off] but I can't tell you! You'll have to wait and see."
How come there's no John Paul?
"Basically, Craig comes over [from Ireland] and the only explanation that John Paul's not there is that he's in Dublin doing a lot of DJ gigs. The trip was just for me to go away for a bit with my sister. Craig and John Paul are going through a little bit of a rough patch but nothing serious. It's just a genuine relationship with the ups and downs."
There's quite a freaky naturist, isn't there?
"That's the Hollyoaks late-night nudity! The guy who played Pete the naturist, he's called Martin McCormick. He's a lovely guy and was great to work with."
Was he actually stood there naked?
"Pretty much. He just has a bit of a leaf on his willy. That was about it. There was always something there to cover him up for the camera, but not for our eyes! Our eyes were abused!"
Didn't you have a Hollywood cameraman for the cliff scenes?
"Yeah. They brought in these guys who did the Bourne Ultimatum - the stunt stuff is amazing. We pretty much all did our own stunts. The weather was so severe on some days when we were doing fight sequences and falling off the cliff, we were all wired up. The camera goes flying down the cliff with us. We had to wrap because of the dangerous weather. Then we went back two weeks later and Barry and I had to co-ordinate our own fight sequences. Lucy Allan was amazing producing it, too. She's very much open to ideas and she was always there on set, making sure everything's right."
Will you continue to make reappearances in Hollyoaks or do you want to leave Craig Dean behind?
"I love Hollyoaks, but I see the late-night as a full stop. It was a really important thing for me to do because when I went back to finish the John Paul/Craig storyline, if it wasn't for Bryan, James and the McDeaners, I wouldn't have done it in a million years. When I went back to do it, I had a lot of days where I was really regretting agreeing to do it because I prefer leaving things open to people's imaginations. I think it ended in a good place initially and if it was my choice, I'd have ended it when I originally left. Hollyoaks is amazing, but you have to take a step away. Sometimes if you know that the door's still open, it's kind of uncomfortable because you're aware that that opportunity's there. I wouldn't want to go back to Hollyoaks in a regular role."
What's your reaction to the news that Bryan's stepping down as producer?
"Everyone seems to come up with a clichéd kiss-ass segment for this bit, but I want to genuinely say that Bryan is amazing. He's done so much for Hollyoaks, along with Lucy, Carolyn Reynolds and Tony Wood. Bryan spear-headed what was a revolution in Hollyoaks. Suddenly, we had decent actors doing decent drama. He really took the show places. In my opinion, you still get the silly things like releasing a perfume. I guess it's part of Hollyoaks and maybe it takes away some of the continually improving drama on screen. Bryan's managed to begin the revolution of moving the stereotype away from all that. He gave birth to the John Paul and Craig storyline and countless other ones. I think Bryan's made the right decision [to leave]. He's taken the show so far, but I think that to take it to the next level, it needs a fresh face. Lucy's the natural progression - she'll do an amazing job."