Fair point, Mr p
Printable View
Fair point, Mr p
i love the way they have these two together... Owen and Lucas are very similar and Owen knows exactly what Lucas is like cause he was there... I wish Denise would ditch them both.Quote:
Originally Posted by parkerman
Maybe as someone who is trying to reform...unlike Lucas!Quote:
Originally Posted by Perdita
he will probably try to kill Denise or Patrick next
I can see him trying to do that too
o tie in with the latest EastEnders storyline twist with Don Gilet's character Lucas Johnson, BBC Three's one-hour special The Two Faces of Lucas takes an in-depth look at the Square's resident murderous pastor.
The programme takes a behind-the-scenes look at the character's imminent turning point in his story and examines how and why he turned bad - if he was ever good!
The Two Faces delves into the archives and takes a look back at some of the biggest turning points in the BBC soap's history, including Trevor and Little Mo's Christmas dinner and Stacey's bipolar diagnosis.
You might spot a certain soaps editor on there if you watch carefully enough. Go easy, though, it was his first time!
EastEnders: The Two Faces of Lucas is due to air on Thursday, November 26 at 8.30pm.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2...-of-lucas.html
EastEnders' man of the cloth Lucas Johnson - played by 41-year-old Don Gilet - prepares to marry his childhood sweetheart Denise Wicks (Diane Parish) next week, but in true soapland style, their special day doesn't go without a hitch. With Denise's ex-husband Owen Turner (Lee Ross) sniffing around Walford, Lucas attempts to force him out of the area but Owen's persistent and becomes increasingly curious about Lucas's involvement in his late wife Trina's (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) death. Frustrated by Owen's ongoing interference, Lucas decides to take matters into his own hands. Here, we chat to Don about his screen counterpart's impending nuptials and the major wedding day story twist. Be warned, though, huge spoiler ahoy!
Lucas is quite a confusing creature, isn't he?
"That's nice to hear - I suppose that makes him attractive in the right sense. He's a very good character to play because of his complexity. I think that's partly because he's a guy who always strives to do the right thing but his path for doing that gets warped as time goes on. I think his heart started off in the right place but - partly because of his drug-addled years - he has a slightly warped outlook on life."
Is he bad through and through?
"On the surface it doesn't seem that bad and he thinks he's got a good moral sense of right and wrong but if you push through and try to find what's at the kernel of who he is, you'll probably find a very angry character. He's got a lot of rage in him and he's using God as a kind of anger management that kicks him on the right track. When he has problems and his world is threatened - something he's worked so hard for over the years and he's an upstanding member of the community, people look to him and respect him - when that's threatened, when people like Trina come back into his life, it's his past returning. That's when the complexity comes in."
Lucas has turned into quite the controversial character…
"I think it's a case of, 'Does he practice what he preaches?' He has this moral standpoint of not having sex before marriage and yet there's still that carnal side of him that gave in to sex with his estranged wife. There's still very much a red-blooded male in him that he's constantly at odds with. He said in one of his speeches a long time ago - during the whole issue with Patrick - that he's trying to deal with these demons on a daily basis and he's only human. There are times when that human and carnal side to him, the side that gives in to temptation, is going to come through. As time goes on, that strong moral side to him starts to chip away and this chink of darkness starts to show and unravel. It's a Pandora's box, in a way."
Do you think he actually loves Denise or is she just helping him to keep up appearances?
"It's not quite as superficial as that but she's the good woman he thinks he should have. It's not quite as simple as a token wife. She's a strong woman and she's his rock, so if those two can survive, they can take on the world. The past life he had with Trina, she wasn't a reliable person to be with and that didn't help him. He's found a woman who's strong-willed, strong-minded, a good mother to their shared child and to Libby and Jordan. It's kind of ideal and he's worked so hard for it. Nothing, but nothing, should stop that - he deserves to have this. It's one of these situations where he likes the idea that he's earned this relationship. That seems to be more of a priority than the pure love he has for her. He loves what he's earned and he's now this respectable person who wants to hold on to what he has by any means necessary."
How does wedding week start?
"Everything's kind of going to plan, except Owen's there, the thorn in his side. Owen's chipping away more and more and is realising that Trina's death isn't as cut and dried as the police made out - it wasn't accidental. That's what makes the Owen character interesting, too - these two alpha males sizing each other up. When they lock horns, it's because of something they sense in each other. Both are recovering addicts but they're eying each other up as if to say, 'Who's really recovered and reformed and who's just talking the talk?' They're both very suspicious of each other and neither believes the other is truly reformed. I think time will tell that it's clearly Lucas who's not a complete good guy anymore. But you also wonder about Owen and the things that he needs - he needs desperately this forgiveness and you wonder what's going to happen if he doesn't get it."
How does the week rumble on for them?
"I think what Owen does is start to expose Lucas for what he really is. The jury is out - for me - when they finally come to blows and he finally kills Owen. Does he do it because Owen was about to expose him to everyone else? Or is it because of what he's exposed of Lucas to himself? Owen holds a mirror up to Lucas and that's what causes him to fly into a rage. Lucas clearly doesn't want to see himself for what he is. Nothing is going to get in the way of him and this wedding."
Where does Lucas go from here?
"I really don't know. Using common sense you feel there's a natural end to certain things - there's an arc of a story - and you think how long can you get away with this? Is there more to him? Is he likely to do this again? Those questions haven't been revealed to me yet, so I don't know but I'm quite happy to take one day at a time. At some point they'll have to tell me how far he goes but until they do that I'm on the crest of this complex and evil wave so I'm having fun with it."
WARNING: Major Spoiler Alert
Ahead of EastEnders' one-hour wedding special on November 26, I recently caught up with former Babyfather actor and über eloquent Don Gilet to chat about his increasingly complex Walford character Lucas Johnson.
The main part of the interview can be found by clicking on this link, but the second half of my chat is below.
Here, Don reveals all about his initial thoughts over the murder twist, Lucas's warped nature, Robbie Gee, Temeka Empson, why Lucas prays alone and more!
What was your reaction when you first heard about the murder twist?
"I was excited. I was very happy but of course it's a double-edged sword. You can only do so many bad things in a soap or any kind of drama. There's a ticking clock to say these characters can only stay for so long once they go down the path of doing so much evil. Somehow they have to make an exit, if it's not with their own death they do a runner or go to prison, but they're not going to be a regular for much longer if they carry on doing these things. That was a secondary thought because I thought that I can't let that get in the way of doing the job itself."
Trina's death is obviously playing on Lucas's mind a fair bit – how do you think he reasoned covering for her death?
"I think he has a warped relationship with what God is. How he squares it with himself is: if he's meant to be found (and this is the wrong thing to do) out there will be some kind of divine intervention. If it is wrong, the police will find out and he'll be in prison rightfully serving a sentence. But if somehow he's able to wriggle out of it or doesn't get caught, it's because they will be done. God didn't want him to be caught therefore it was the right thing to do. His morals are warped because his idea of divine intervention is warped and his whole relationship with God is warped."
He's losing control more easily nowadays...
"The whole thing is about control. As time goes on he seems to have less and less control of the status quo and become more of a fight or flight character. Everything that he does that's immoral is not premeditated - there's no malice of forethought - but it's that demon or darker side which he can't hold back any longer and it bursts out."
Where does this warped nature come from?
"Knowing his history, he's had quite a drug-addled past and he's now a recovering addict. Some people choose to go via the twelve steps, other people find God - they find other ways of harnessing this bad side and dealing with anger issues or addiction. I don't think he's been right since. One of the first things he saw with Chelsea for the first time was that there were times when he was in a drug den with needles sticking out of his arms. I don't think he's ever fully recovered - the drugs did something to him so on the surface he's a good bloke until something threatens it. Then you see his morals aren't completely perfect. He treads a crooked path and he still has this rage within him. He needs this idea of God to keep him sane and to keep him from temptation. That's why I always say it's a twisted morality."
What was it like working with Robbie Gee and Tameka Empson?
"I've worked with Robbie before a long time ago on Desmond's and Tameka on Babyfather. They're great characters, larger-than-life and great actors. It was refreshing and comfortable at the same time. There's a great sense of familiarity. It's the same with Diane [Parish]. I've worked with her before and coming into this show and finding the one person you'll be playing opposite most of the time is someone you have a great respect for and rapport with is great."
Why does Lucas always pray alone?
"These are his moments of recharging his batteries personally. It's him and God, it's not about anybody else. It's him saying, 'I need to have my time with God without any disturbances, I need to read passages from the Bible and have this one-to-one'. It's a writing choice that's made you see him do that but it's important that you do see that. You see him take time out when something has happened and he's got away with it. He says, 'Thank you', or he says, 'Thank you for not intervening or for keeping me free of being caught'. It's a weird thing to thank someone for and I think those are put there specifically to show that he has this interesting relationship with God that he doesn't really share with anyone else. There's no-one else really there."
Do you have a favourite writer?
"It's weird but I don't normally look at the writer until after I've shot it sometimes, maybe because of some kind of journey I've gone through then. I don't particularly think, 'Oh, there's the writer - that'll be brilliant'. I look back and I think Christopher Reason is definitely one of the guys who has observed characters brilliantly and Simon Ashdown - I've really liked his writing as well. There was an episode that I wasn't involved in when Ryan was coming back in with Ruth Gemmell playing his mum and Lacey having her first real breakdown as Stacey and I thought, 'This is a brilliant episode - who wrote this?' I found out it was Simon Ashdown. I don't actually know which ones he's done that I've been in but when I watched that I thought, 'I've got to find out who that is and I've got to let every actor in that episode know how brilliant they were!'"
Emilia Di Girolamo wrote two excellent episodes for Lucas, the ones when he was trying to prevent anyone from discovering Trina's body in the summerhouse...
"I just do the job and some things might not necessarily leap off the page but with the intervention of directing you find you're playing it and you look back and think, 'Gosh - those are stunning episodes'. You're right, those episodes were excellent. Next time she's in I'm going to give her a nod and say, 'You're helping to make my character look great - in terms of size not how good he is!' (Laughs) Maybe she'll write something special for me when they finally get rid of me - I'll be her muse!"
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s2...astenders.html
anyone know? i just saw it on front of all about soap?
Liz or Patrick or a dog i think
The dog I think too
Sugar the dog goes "missing" when he takes her for a walk and according to spolier Liz comes back, Patrick and Libby try to track Owen down so maybe one of them?Quote:
Originally Posted by sindydoll