EastEnders star Colin Salmon reveals which George scenes he struggled playing
Eastenders spoilers follow.
EastEnders star Colin Salmon has revealed which scenes he struggled playing as his character George Knight.
The actor joined the show last year as a co-owner of the Queen Vic, with George moving to Albert Square with fiancée Elaine and daughters Gina and Anna.
His character has faced some challenges in recent months, including the discovery that his adoptive father Eddie murdered his biological father in a racist attack decades previously.
Related: EastEnders' Lexi confronts Nadine over lie
While Eddie has recently been convicted and sent to prison to the crime, George’s adoptive mother Gloria suffered a heart attack and later died, leaving him with even more loss.
In an interview with What to Watch, Salmon opened up about the scenes that he has particularly struggled with during his character’s dramatic few months.
He said: "There was a scene that I did with Francesca [Henry] in the café on Gina’s birthday, and George denies Eddie’s racism. That was the hardest thing, to say, ‘I was grateful. It was wrong, but they gave me a chance’.
"And I found it really hard to say to Eddie, ‘I wish it had been you that died’. That was horrible, I hated that. With respect to Chris Fairbank [who played Eddie], I’ve got to say that he did not in any way shirk away from the responsibility of being horrible, complex, broken – he just played it, which meant everything else can work. I take that as a mantra now – I have to play through it."
Related: EastEnders – Is Dean Wicks leaving the show?
George has recently turned to underground fighting to deal with his anger, keeping the secret from his family while putting himself in danger.
"I think if you look at it as self-harm," Salmon said, "it’s just a version of that. He needs to feel something, and he sort of implodes as opposed to explodes. Obviously, he is risking his life, but this is all he’s ever known.
"He releases his anger in the ring but equally there have to be other ways to do that. He needs help. He needs proper therapy."
EastEnders airs on Mondays - Thursdays at 7.30pm on BBC One. The show also streams on BBC iPlayer, where most episodes drop early at 6am ahead of their TV broadcast.
Read more EastEnders spoilers on our dedicated homepage
You Might Also Like
